Players and Pawns
by jazzpha
Summary: AU. The first chapter is set right after Episode 4. The rest follow after the end of Episode 12. Noatak wakes up in the Spirit World after Tarrlok's murder/suicide gambit. His determination to rescue his brother from the Valley of the Suicides leads to him getting caught up in a larger scheme, one that has roots going back millennia... and the outcome of which could be cataclysmic.
1. Prologue

**Players and Pawns  
**

**Prologue: **Reasonable Doubt

* * *

The words hit Korra like they'd been spoken in a foreign language, and she did a double-take.

"I'm sorry, Chief Bei Fong?" the Avatar asked, thoroughly confused. "He wants to talk to _me_?"

"That's what I said, Avatar," the Head of Police answered briskly, her hard eyes giving away nothing. "Now hurry up and move; I haven't been able to get a peep out of this slimeball in two days, and I'm tired of wasting my time. If anyone could get through to him," Lin finished, not even trying to hide her disdain as she looked over at Korra, "it would seem be you, for some reason."

The Avatar nodded, meeting her erstwhile rival's eyes with an unflinching gaze of her own.

"I'll try my best, Chief," she said. "Anything that can help us get closer to taking down Amon."

"Then stop wasting your time prattling and go."

Korra nodded and left, making her way through the stark, steel-gray halls of Republic City's police headquarters. With each step, she tried to puzzle out the odd turn her life had just taken.

_Why does he want to talk to me? Especially after what happened during that raid?_

She had never seen a pair of eyes look that determined to kill before. Amon's cold glare had been the stuff of Korra's many recent nightmares, but even that had been detached; devoid of any emotion other than smug superiority.

These eyes had been as blue as her own, but they had bled with more seething hatred than Korra had ever known a Water Tribe citizen to be capable of.

_It was my fault they looked like that. I lost control, and I… that girl was my age… she looked like she was in so much pain…_

_All my fault._

"Avatar Korra?" A probing voice broke into her thoughts, snapping the Avatar back into the present. "Are you lost?"

She blinked and looked up at the guard, who was standing watch over the cell belonging to the prisoner that had requested to speak to her.

Would he just try to finish what he'd started three nights ago?

"No," Korra answered with conviction, "I'm right where I need to be. Can you open that door for me, Ma'am?"

The guard looked at the Avatar, clearly thrown off by the request.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Didn't your boss tell you the situation?" Korra asked, and the guard shook her head. "He wants to talk to me. And just me, from the sound of it," the Avatar added, wary. "That was what the Chief said, anyway."

The guard paused for a moment to consider, before breaking out her keys with a reluctant sigh and inserting the biggest one on the ring into the lock.

"You sure you don't want any backup, kid?"

Korra shook her head, taking one last calming breath as the door swung open in front of her with a _creak_.

"I appreciate it," the Avatar said, "but I think I'll be all right. If he tries anything crazy, I won't hold back."

"Your call," the guard said with a shrug, stepping aside as Korra walked into the small room. "Just try not to tear the cell down, okay? They don't come cheap."

The Avatar heard the door close behind her, but she didn't look back at it.

Her eyes were focused forward, trained on the young man sitting cross-legged on the floor looking back up at her. He smiled sharply, his blue eyes gleaming cold and bright from behind messy, dark-brown hair.

"Avatar Korra," he said, the pale white bands of scar tissue running vertically down from his left temple to the bottom of his left jawbone gleaming in the dim light of the cell. "You came after all."

After a few moments passed in tense silence, Korra realized that the prisoner wasn't going to rise. She sat down across from him, never once breaking eye contact.

"Sarrak, was it?" she said at last. The young man's smile widened.

"You remembered my name," he said quietly, sounding amused. "I must have made an impression."

The Avatar gave a bitter chuckle.

"I don't think I'd forget the name of someone who tried to kill me."

Sarrak leaned back slightly, measuring his visitor with a searching look.

"Is that what you think?" he asked after a few heartbeats had gone between them. "That I was trying to kill you?"

Korra stared at him.

"Well, yeah," she said bluntly. "Isn't that usually why you attack people with a sword?"

Now it was Sarrak's turn to laugh, and it was equally as humorless a sound as Korra's had been.

"If I'd wanted to kill you, Avatar," he said, "I would have thrown a knife into your neck the moment you broke down that door and came bursting in to our little dojo. Maybe I should have; I'm sure Mira would be in much better shape right now."

There was unmistakable hatred in his last few words, and Korra had to fight back a flinch. She swallowed, pushing past the implication that she had been dead-to-rights and Sarrak had decided to _let_ her live. She had been put at someone's mercy once before, and it was something she would never forget.

Never again.

"So why didn't you?"

"Because it's not my place to kill you, in case you've forgotten," Sarrak said, his smile returning as a smirk that played about the corners of his mouth as he spoke. "That duty belongs to someone else."

"Amon," Korra grit out, her own blue eyes darkening with anger. "Now we're getting somewhere. Tell me where he is, Sarrak."

The Equalist didn't even pause for thought.

"No."

"Tell me."

"How did that feel," Sarrak said, his eyes glinting spitefully, "being beaten for the first time in your life?"

"Where is Amon?"

"The others were right about you, Korra," he continued, smiling viciously. "You really are a glutton for punishment."

The fire sprang to her hand without a second thought, and Sarrak hadn't even blinked before the Avatar was holding it just inches from his face.

"Give me an answer," she ground out. "Now. No more games."

"Or what?" the Equalist asked levelly. "You'll burn it out of me?"

"Try not to make it sound so appealing. Good men and women are in critical condition because of you Equalists."

"Then shut up and do it," Sarrak countered coldly. "Save your threats for men who aren't already dead, Avatar."

The flame faltered, sputtered and vanished as the weight of those words sunk into Korra.

"You don't mean…" she began as she backed off and sat down again, her eyes widening, and Sarrak nodded. "Amon's going to kill you just because you got captured? Why would you protect him, then? Tell me where he is, and I could cut you a deal with the Chief— what is it?" Korra asked, seeing the scornfully amused look in the Equalist's eyes and stalling out. "What's so funny?"

"Amon's not the one who wants me dead, Avatar," Sarrak replied. "It's Tarrlok. As soon as you're done here, he's going to send a guard in here to take me outside and into a back alley. After that, the guard is going to kill me. If I had to guess," he added musingly in the face of Korra's horrified stare, "they'll probably bring my head back to Tarrlok. I hear he likes his trophies."

"That's… we…" Korra choked out, before forcing herself to regain her composure. "We don't kill our prisoners! Stop screwing with me!"

Sarrak stared daggers at the Avatar, all of the humor seeping away from his eyes to leave only scorn.

"You say good men and women are in critical condition because of us Equalists," he said, "and yet you haven't even taken the time to get to know whom those men and women are. Some comrade you are, Avatar."

"What do you mean?"

Sarrak sighed, taking a breath as he closed his eyes.

"One of the people I fought three nights ago," he said, "was Tarrlok's brother-in-law. The only reason I'm still alive is because the noble Councilman wants me to suffer a little more before he has me butchered like a dog. Why do you think I got a cell all to my own?"

Korra could feel her stomach churning, and was suddenly glad that she'd skipped breakfast that morning.

"Tell me where Amon is," she said, her voice softer now than it had been during her earlier demands. "I can find a way to keep you safe."

Sarrak stared at her for a few moments, and then he burst out laughing.

"You really have no idea how this works," he said after he'd calmed down, "do you? It must have been nice, growing up in whatever fairy-tale land you come from."

"I'm being serious," Korra shot back, her anger spiking again. The Equalist smiled again, but this time there was pity in the gesture.

"And so am I," he said. "Tarrlok has more spies in this district than anywhere else in the city. If you try to move me somewhere else, he'll find me there and kill me in my sleep. That's what happened to his predecessor, Kyu—or did he not tell you that?" Sarrak asked, his pity giving way to spite once more. "Probably not; he was very careful not to leave anyone alive who might have been able to implicate him. I didn't ask you to come here to beg for mercy, Avatar," Sarrak finished, "or to ask you to make empty promises."

Korra frowned.

"Then why _did_ you ask me here, exactly?"

The Equalist opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the sound of a hard knock on the door.

"Avatar Korra," the guard's voice floated, muffled, through the door, "someone is here to question the prisoner. Councilman Tarrlok's orders."

Silence settled back between the pair for a few more moments, and Korra could feel the tension settling thickly over her shoulders. Realizing that there was nothing she could do to help Sarrak, she settled for the next best thing.

"I'm… I'm sorry," she said. "About what happened. To Mira."

"Don't," the Equalist cut her off, his voice for once bleeding with the pure anger Korra had seen in his eyes three nights ago.

"I didn't mean to—"

"But you did," Sarrak said darkly as the door opened behind Korra with another _creak_. "I don't want the last words I hear in my life to be empty ones, Avatar. Spare me. Just count yourself lucky that she still has one of her eyes, or I might be tempted to forget my promise to her."

"Well, well," a new voice broke into the conversation as Tarrlok's minion entered the cell; he seemed to be the same age as the two other occupants. "That sounds like a threat to me, Sarrak. Might want to hold off on those, or you won't even make it to questioning." The visitor looked over at Korra, his dark green eyes glinting in the dim light. "Mind if I take this piece of dirt-sucking scum off your hands, Avatar?"

Korra stared down the newcomer, rising to her feet as Sarrak did the same. The Avatar knew now beyond a shadow of a doubt what would happen if Tarrlok got a hold of this particular prisoner… and her earlier hesitation vanished as if it had never been. She wasn't about to just let someone get executed on her watch; not if she could help it.

"Actually, yeah," she said with an edge to her words, "I do mind. You can run along and go tell Councilman Tarrlok that if he wants to question Sarrak here," Korra finished, jerking her thumb over to the prisoner, "he can do it himself."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Avatar," Tarrlok's messenger replied, his tone turning decidedly threatening. "The Councilman has many duties to attend to, and can't spare the time to get his hands dirty consorting with murderous Equalists like this one here."

"Korra," Sarrak broke in evenly, giving her a pointed sidelong glance, "Let it go. Just remember what I told you about Tarrlok."

The Avatar opened her mouth to argue, but the continued pressure of Sarrak's blue eyes forced her to keep her silence. She nodded, and the green-eyed lackey slapped a pair of handcuffs on the Equalist's wrists and led him from the cell.

On the way out of the station, Tarrlok's messenger stopped by the main desk and retrieved the pair of _katana_ he'd been forced to surrender upon entry. The pair of young men were almost to the door when a stern voice called out from behind them, stopping them in their tracks.

"Where did you get those swords?"

The green-eyed minion turned back around to regard Chief Bei Fong, his expression perfectly level.

"I bought them," he answered calmly, "at a very high price. They were antiques."

The Chief smiled, but it was an acidic sliver of a gesture that didn't come close to her eyes.

"Hardly," she shot back, her tone as cutting as the substance she was famous for bending. "I'd recognize that craftsmanship anywhere; I knew the man who forged those personally."

"You did?" Tarrlok's messenger said, arching an eyebrow in genuine curiosity. The Chief nodded.

"I knew him," she reiterated, before her pale green eyes hardened, "and I killed him myself."

The young man's expression stayed neutral, but the tension in the air was palpable.

"I'm sure that was quite a duel," he said, before bowing. "Goodbye, Chief Bei Fong. The Councilman sends his regards."

"I'm sure he does."

Tarrlok's messenger nodded, turned back to face the door, and walked through it without another word.

The pair of young men were well-clear of the police station and deep into the network of Republic City's back alleys when the green-eyed swordsman finally took the handcuffs off of Sarrak. The blue-eyed Equalist rubbed his wrists and frowned, glaring over at the Councilman's envoy.

"You're late, Hanzo," he said lowly. "I've been rotting in that damn cell for two days."

"Hey, don't get pissy with me," Hanzo replied defensively. "Those were the boss's orders. Amon wanted to make sure you got to Korra. It's your own damn fault that it took two days." He took one of the _katana_ from his waist, offering it to Sarrak. "You can use this one until you get a replacement."

"Are you sure?" the other Equalist asked, surprised. "Those're—"

"Just shut up and take it," Hanzo cut his friend off, his voice far more tense than Sarrak had heard it in months.

"Thanks," he said after a moment, taking the offered weapon. He shrugged. "I got the Avatar to start doubting Tarrlok, I know that much… and she certainly blames herself for what she did to Mira. Mission accomplished, then, I guess," Sarrak finished hollowly, forcing down the knotted feeling in his stomach.

Hanzo nodded.

"Yeah." The green-eyed Equalist paused for a moment, before continuing in a gentler tone. "Mira's doing fine, Sarrak. She'll be back in the field in no time."

"I hope that's true," Sarrak said, melancholy creeping into his voice as the two friends continued to walk down the alley.

"Let's go home."

* * *

…

…

**A/N: **And so it begins! From here on out is where things get nuts; this chapter acts mainly as a primer for the OCs that will show up later on, and to give Korra and Lin some time to shine. Because they're cool like that. **  
**

And just as a note for my frequent readers, this 'Hanzo' is a different, Korra-fied version of my 'Twist of Fate' OC. So he's 17, and not 87. Gotta love alternate continuities!

Hope you enjoyed it!

**P.S. - **Thanks must be given to **Valbrandr**, the one who suggested I combine all of these related one-shots into a single, over-arching story. She was also one of the three people to review Genesis (the next chapter) in its stand-alone form, which deserves a merit badge all on its own as far as I'm concerned.


	2. Genesis

**Players and Pawns  
**

**Chapter 2: **Genesis

* * *

The first thing he felt, after his mind had blanked out following a surge of white-hot pain, was the sensation of a gentle breeze blowing across his face. Which struck Noatak as quite strange, considering that he was fairly sure he'd just died.

His brother had sparked off their boat's sizeable tank of gasoline, instantly turning the small ship into a fiercely-burning wreck of twisted metal and charred flesh.

So where exactly was he, and what was going on?

"Finally," an exasperated female voice broke into his thoughts. "It's about time."

"Who are you?" Noatak finally forced out slowly a few moments later, his eyelids still too heavy to open. "Where am I?"

"That first question isn't important," the voice answered, "so I'm just going to skip right to the second one. You," she continued, "are in the Spirit World.

"And really," she said, sounding smugly superior, "you should be thanking me, Noatak. You have no _idea_ how many Spirits wanted a piece of your soul, but I got to you first. As it happens, near-omnipotent forces of nature hate it when you make their names look bad by association. And false association, at that."

The woman's words passed through the Waterbender's ears like meaningless noise, and Noatak struggled to open his eyes. He felt leaden, disgustingly helpless, and totally alone.

"Tarrlok," he said at last, his blue-gray eyes finally opening. "Where is he? Where is my brother?"

"Tarrlok is in a different valley, quite far away from here," the woman said, and for the first time since she'd started talking Noatak could see her face. She had keen amber eyes—impossibly keen, a Firebender's eyes. She seemed to be his age at first glance, but her eyes were far older.

"He killed himself, after all," she explained dispassionately, "and suicides get sent to a particularly desolate part of this place."

"But—we died together," Noatak persisted, feeling his stomach tying into knots and his voice rising as he came to realize he'd lost Tarrlok again, so soon after finding him. "Why isn't he here?"

"I just told you," the Firebender reiterated, her eyes narrowing impatiently. "Your brother killed himself when he murdered you. Your souls were judged differently.

"If you want to find him again," she continued, her sharp amber eyes staring right through Noatak, "then you have a hard journey ahead of you. One I can help you make…" Her voice trailed off expectantly.

"In exchange for what, exactly?" the Waterbender asked, his strength beginning to return to him, along with his senses. "What do you want from me?"

"You have a unique ability, Noatak," the Firebender answered, her mouth widening into a small, controlled smirk as the Waterbender forced himself up to his feet to stand tall. "You won't be able to use it again for some time— at least until you get more comfortable being a spirit.

"But once you do," she finished, her smirk widening into a hungry smile, "someone of your power could be of great use to me. I have been a servant in this place for far too long, and I am accustomed to ruling."

"The spirits of the past Avatars live here, don't they?" Noatak asked, and the Firebender nodded. "Won't they try to stop you?"

The woman laughed.

"I've killed an Avatar before," she said proudly, "and I'm sure I could do it again, if I had to. And you've managed to rob one of their Bending, Noatak: between the two of us, I'm sure we'll each get what we want."

"You…" the Waterbender said, his eyes widening as the pieces fell into place. "You killed an Avatar?"

She nodded again, her eyes smoldering.

"Temporarily, regrettably," she answered, "but I still think it counts."

Noatak stood in dumb shock for a few heartbeats as he finally realized whom he was talking to.

And then he smiled in kind.

"We have a deal, Princess," he said. "You lead me to my brother, and I'll help you win your throne."

The Firebender nodded once in satisfaction, turned and began to walk away. Noatak followed behind her, saying nothing.

_I'm coming, brother. Just wait a little longer._

* * *

The pair had been walking for some time before Noatak even considered breaking the silence that lay between them. He was side by side with a storybook villain, which was plenty surreal by itself. That he had somehow managed to enter into a mutual agreement with someone famed for their skill in duplicity and violence— and come out of it still in one piece—was more than enough to make the Waterbender's mind reel.

"So," Noatak spoke up at last, "how did you wind up here, rather than with the suicides? Every tale I've heard says you killed yourself in that asylum, Azula."

The princess looked over at her companion and smirked, her amber eyes glinting with scorn.

"And you believe every story you hear?" she countered. "The asylum guards spread that story around to cover up the truth; they knew full well what my brother would have done to them if they'd ever been found out."

Noatak frowned lightly as he filled in the gaps, looking for the evidence and finding it in a thin, pale line that ran across Azula's neck.

"How many of them did you kill, before they did that to you?" the Waterbender asked quietly. The princess shrugged.

"None of them, actually," she answered, her eyes unfocusing slightly as they looked back into the past. "All I did was banish some of their relatives, and Zuko had all of my decrees rescinded the day he was crowned. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the Fire Sages paid them off," Azula said, blinking herself back into the present and keeping her voice completely even. "They probably thought I was still a threat, and the Avatar refused to take my Bending away. It was the only permanent solution.

"Not that I blame them for it, of course," she finished, looking over at Noatak. "I would have done exactly the same thing."

The Waterbender said nothing, wondering why the Fire Lord hadn't gone to greater lengths to protect his younger sibling. But then a sudden spike of regret pierced him as he thought of how he'd stripped Tarrlok of his Bending, and Noatak shoved the thought from his mind.

"Ah," Azula said a few moments later, stopping abruptly and compelling her companion to halt alongside her. "Here we are. This should do nicely."

As he looked around them to see what was important enough to stop for, Noatak saw nothing more than a few trees in the distance, a large expanse of grass that stretched as far as the eye could see, and a small stream running a short distance from their feet.

"Do what?" the Waterbender pressed, curious. "There's nothing here."

"Isn't there?" Azula countered, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Does your native element mean so little to you now, just because you've left your human body?"

Noatak raised an eyebrow at that, unable to see what the princess's point was.

"This isn't the Mortal World, Azula," he insisted. "That's not actually water."

The Firebender smiled, and every hair on the back of Noatak's neck stood up at once.

"Oh, really?"

He was already moving to dodge as the fireball burst out of Azula's clenched fist, blue and burning and so intense that Noatak felt its heat trail pass him as it flew by his head.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, facing the Firebender with barely-suppressed rage seething in his sharp blue-gray eyes. "I thought we were on the same side!"

Azula was completely unmoved by her companion's anger, shifting her smile from one of anticipation to one of thoroughly false innocence.

"If that isn't actually water," she said simply, her words carrying an edge of unveiled patronization, "then why did you bother dodging that fireball just now? By your logic, it wouldn't even have burned you."

Noatak swallowed his anger, knowing full well that being off-balance around someone like Azula was a big mistake.

"What's your point?"

"My point," the princess said, "is that I want you to Waterbend that stream."

Noatak's anger evaporated completely as the words sunk in, replaced by disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

Azula nodded.

"Absolutely."

The Waterbender waited for his companion to elaborate— but as the princess continued to hold her silence, Noatak gave up that hope and sighed.

"Fine," he said, turning to face the water once more, "but I have no idea why you're wasting my time with this."

"It should be easy for you," Azula said, and Noatak could hear her smiling. "Just Waterbend."

Noatak took his stance, collected himself with a smooth breath, and reached out towards the water. He felt his _chi_ connect with the water, moved his arms…

And nothing happened.

"What?" he said flatly, before trying again and achieving exactly the same result. "What's going on?" he asked, turning back to face Azula. "Why can't I Waterbend?"

"Because you're still treating it like normal water," the princess explained, finally removing the condescension from her words. "Does anything about this place feel 'normal' to you, Noatak?"

The Waterbender was about to say 'yes', before the shape of a massive bird the size of a battleship appeared just above the horizon.

"No," he said, his voice muted with awe. "It doesn't."

"Everything here," Azula said, walking over to stand next to Noatak and looking out at the setting sun, "from the pebbles to that Roc over there, has its own _chi_. If you want to bend something made of pure spiritual energy, you have to overcome that _chi_ first."

The Waterbender nodded, his father's words from years ago ringing uncomfortably in his ears.

"Like Bloodbending," he said.

"Exactly. I saved you from an eternity of indescribably painful torture because your ability to manipulate _chi_ is a powerful weapon, and especially here. But if you can't even Waterbend that stream," she finished, her eyes narrowing slightly, "then you are worse than useless to me."

Noatak felt his pride raise its hackles at the challenge, and he looked down at the stream again. Taking his Waterbending stance, he reached out with his _chi_. Now that he was actively trying to find it, he could feel the opposing pull of the water's _chi_ struggling against his own.

Setting his feet, Noatak poured all of his concentration into the movement and pulled up against the flow of the water.

It rushed towards him with surprising speed, too quickly to rein in. The water crashed into him, but Noatak didn't care. He'd won, and that was what mattered.

"Good," Azula said with mild approval, as she created a few small orbs of blue fire. They flitted around Noatak, drying him off.

"Now we just need to work on your control."

* * *

The jackal ran swiftly along the soft moss that carpeted the forest floor, streaking in a black blur beneath the dying light of the setting sun. Its russet eyes were wide and alert, tinged with the tiniest sliver of fear.

How had they let this happen? They'd been keeping an eye on the Bloodbender ever since his powers had manifested, aware of what his arrival in the Spirit World could potentially mean. Oaths had been sworn by some of the most powerful of the Lesser Spirits, pledging not to corrupt or manipulate Noatak to their own ends. To simply let him drift, alone, until all of his stubborn willpower had drained away.

He wasn't supposed to have been given a purpose, and he certainly wasn't supposed to have found an ally. And _especially_ not an ally like Azula.

The jackal ran on, hoping that he hadn't been perceived by the Bloodbender or the insane princess. If Azula knew she was being tracked, then she would go underground and it would be at least half a century before she made another gamble like this one.

The sun had dipped completely below the horizon by the time the jackal reached the large, stone pagoda that glowed slightly from the light of the torches burning within it.

The castle of the Fire Nation's most prominent Lesser Spirits.

The animal reared back and howled, the sharp sound ripping through the air and drowning out the quiet murmur of voices from within the pagoda. The chatter of the spirits within subsided for a moment, before resuming again as if they'd never been interrupted. The jackal hung his head and sighed.

"What's wrong, Koru?"

The sound of his name brought his head rising back up, and the Jackal saw young man kneeling in front of him, his dark amber eyes clouded with concern.

"Lu Ten, sir," the jackal spoke in a deferential greeting, bowing his head slightly before looking up seriously at his master. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" the fallen prince asked, his eyes narrowing.

"It's Noatak," Koru explained. "Azula got to him."

Lu Ten took a step back at that, shocked by the news.

"How?" he asked, more concern than anger in the word. "I thought we'd taken care of this!"

"I don't know," Koru answered, shaking his head. "I just saw them, that's all. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me," the fallen prince assured his messenger, his tone gentle. "You've done a great service to us, Koru. Come on; I'll see if I can't wring an explanation out of my family," he finished, all but spitting out the last word before he turned around and walked quickly back towards the pagoda. The jackal followed at his heels, every step making him more nervous.

The Firebender walked through the stone archway with swift, powerful steps, his face contorted in frustration and disgust. The most powerful Firebenders of the generations gone by were sitting around a large stone table that dominated the middle of the room, their expressions ranging from relaxed to outright apathetic.

"My Lords," Lu Ten said stiffly, any courtesy that might have existed in the words undercut by barely-confined anger, "a word."

"Just one?" Fire Lord Azulon shot back, smirking. "Make it count, boy."

The fallen prince gave a mirthless smile.

"Noatak."

The other Firebenders all snapped to attention at that, but it was Fire Lord Sozin who finally broke the tense silence.

"Well?" he probed. "What about the Bloodbender is so important, that you disturb us like this?"

Lu Ten stared at his great-grandfather blankly, unsure whether to howl in anger or weep.

"What?" the fallen prince said at last, his voice drawn and hollow. "You don't even know? Are you _serious_?" Lu Ten finished, his voice rising to something only slightly less than a shout. "He's dead. He died, and he came here. Did any of you idiots even bother keeping track of him, like I suggested?"

"Hold your tongue," Azulon replied sharply, "or I'll rip it out."

"Noatak is dead," the fallen prince repeated, as if he'd never been interrupted, "and Azula got to him first."

The news was greeted with silence at first, but it was broken before long by a new voice.

"And why should any of us care, nephew," a cold, raspy voice cut through the room, "about whom my daughter chooses to be her allies? Every attempt of hers to grab power will fail, without exception. She is weak."

"Because, Uncle," Lu Ten answered pointedly as he turned to regard Ozai, "what Azula chooses to do reflects directly back on us.

"Don't any of you understand that?" he continued, turning to address the whole table once again. "My cousin is our responsibility, whether any of you want to accept that or not. If she convinces Noatak to fight with her against any of the other Lesser Spirits, the blame will fall on us.

"How many centuries do you think the Dragons have been waiting to see your head fixed on a spike, Sozin? As soon as war breaks out, they'll join in to help end it quickly. I can promise you that.

"And do you really think Master Pakku would pass up the chance to freeze you solid and watch you shatter into a million little pieces, Azulon? The North remembers what your war cost them.

"And my dearest Uncle," Lu Ten finished, giving Ozai a malicious smile, "I think it goes without saying that every single citizen of the Earth Kingdom who now resides here would love to personally rip your heart out of your chest."

Silence reigned again, and this time none of the old spirits made any move to break it. The fallen prince sighed.

"Fine," he said, "I'll take care of this myself. If I fail, though, you're all on your own."

Lu Ten turned and left the room, walking back out of the massive stone pagoda with Koru at his heels. He was several paces away from the building when he stopped dead in his tracks, causing the jackal to perk up alertly.

"So," the fallen prince said, "you heard all of that, did you?"

"Please, kid," a jesting voice replied. "I hear _everything_."

Lu Ten chuckled as the unexpected guest approached in closer, the moonlight glinting off of her steel armor.

"Stop calling me that," he said. "I'm twenty years older than you, Bei Fong."

"Not on the outside, you're not," Toph shot back, smiling wide, before her expression leveled out and her sightless, pale green eyes narrowed.

"If Noatak really is here," she said, her voice as cold and hard as the element she was famous for bending, "and you're going to hunt him down, I'm coming with you. I have a score to settle with that bastard."

Lu Ten said nothing for a few moment, carefully scrutinizing the Metalbender next to him. In the end, he nodded.

"Fine," the fallen prince said, "but don't go after my cousin. She's my responsibility; not yours."

Toph frowned, brushing a bang of dark gray hair out of her face.

"Why do you still care about what happens to her? She's long gone, Lu Ten."

"She's family," Lu Ten countered, resolute. "You should understand what that means. Do we have a deal?"

Toph took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, seemingly coming to a decision.

"Yeah," she said at last, "we have a deal. Let's go catch ourselves a Bloodbender."

LINE BREAK

Azula caught Noatak giving her a searching glance out of the corner of her eye, and she turned her head to face him.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," the Waterbender said dismissively, shifting his attention back to the large orb of water he was moving back and forth between his hands. It was an oddly comforting exercise. "I just thought you'd look older than you do. If I didn't know who you were, I'd say we were the same age."

The Firebender shrugged, absently sweeping a few wisps of blue flame out in front of them to augment the pale moonlight shining along the path.

"Every spirit looks exactly like they did when their mortal bodies died," Azula explained, "except for truly disfiguring injuries. That's why Avatar Roku doesn't look like a human pancake, for example… or why you're not a pile of broken bones and scattered viscera," she added, gesturing at Noatak. "Don't ask me who makes those repairs, though, because I don't know."

"Right," Noatak replied, trying not to visualize what his corpse must look like floating in the ocean and only partly succeeding. He suppressed a shiver and recovered his balance a heartbeat later, keeping the orb of water intact.

"How much farther until we reach my brother?" he asked after a few more moments, the silence creeping underneath his skin and festering there. This place still felt alien, and he still felt alone; he didn't trust Azula as far as he could throw her, and certainly wasn't looking forward to the moment when the Firebender would collect on her debt. When he had been confident in his skills, the prospect of testing himself against a former Avatar had been exhilarating.

But now? Noatak looked down at the water as he pushed it and pulled it, biting back a sigh. It took more effort than he'd had to exert in decades, and he knew in his gut that trying to overcome the _chi_ of a sentient spirit—let alone a spirit as powerful as an Avatar—would be nearly impossible.

"Don't get so defeatist, Noatak," Azula spoke into his thoughts, and the Waterbender's face snapped up to stare at her.

"Can you…?" he started to ask, trailing off as he thought about how ridiculous his question would sound. But it was enough for Azula to complete the meaning, and she laughed.

"Read your mind?" the Firebender finished, smiling as she shook her head. "Of course not. But when you mope that dramatically, I don't have to. And it's not too much farther; we should be there by sunrise."

Noatak stopped walking altogether, waiting with strained patience while his companion realized she was leaving him behind. Azula turned back around to face the Waterbender, her eyes flaring with annoyance.

"What is it now?" she snapped. "If you have something to say, just say it."

"I was under the impression, Princess," Noatak said slowly as he approached Azula, every muscle in his body tense and ready to spring, "that the journey there was, as you said yourself, 'quite far'. That in order to get there, I would need your help. And now," the Waterbender finished as he stood no more than an arm's length away from the Firebender, "it would seem as though you lied to me."

"If that surprises you in the slightest," Azula shot back, completely unfazed by her companion's implicit threat, "you're a lot dumber than I thought."

"I'm done with you," Noatak said, the sting of the betrayal deepening as he understood that his present anger was only a minuscule fraction of what the Lieutenant must have felt when he'd called his former commander a traitor.

"How unfortunate," Azula replied, her voice taking the form of an almost predatory purr. "I wasn't lying about your potential, at least. What a shame."

Noatak quelled his inward guilt just in time to roll under a bolt of lightning that arced through the space his head had been occupying seconds earlier. Drawing the spilled water back into his hands, he froze it and slung the myriad sharp icicles up towards Azula's face.

A wall of blue flame sprang into existence in front of the princess and evaporated the water entirely, crippling the Waterbender's hopes of victory. Letting his anger and adrenaline fuel him, Noatak reached out with his _chi_ and took hold of Azula's, trying to impose his will over her own.

"Not bad," the princess spat, fighting against her opponent's bid for control over her body. "A prodigy once is a prodigy forever, apparently. But don't fool yourself, Noatak," she finished, smiling as she pushed his _chi _away with a sharp mental shove. "You're still nowhere near powerful enough to scratch me."

Azula pulled one of her arms back, her fingertip crackling with lightning. Noatak readied himself to dodge once again, casting a quick glance around him for any sources of water and finding none. Hand-to-hand combat it was, then.

The lightning screeched through the air and the Waterbender moved to the side, but both combatants were surprised by the sudden appearance of a rock wall that sprang up between them, taking the brunt of the bolt. Azula instantly recognized the _chi_ that had bent the earth, and her eyes went wide.

"Aw, is this a lover's quarrel?" Toph jeered, splitting the rock barrier in half and sending the top part flying square into Azula's chest, while the lower half slammed into Noatak's legs and laid him out on the ground. "I'm so sorry to interrupt; really, I am."

Azula took in a breath and sprang back up onto her feet, angry that she'd been caught off-guard by such an obvious tactic. The princess heard something move behind her and stepped to the left, realizing seconds too late that her new attacker had been expecting just that reaction. She swung her leg behind her and shot a ball of blue flame from her foot, but it only hit air.

Her other leg was taken out from under her by a low sweeping kick, and the princess felt herself lurching backwards. The sensation only lasted for a moment, however, before a strong arm braced her and cushioned her fall.

"Rookie mistake, Azula," Lu Ten's voice whispered in her ear, a mixture of sadness and regret. "I taught you better than that."

The princess barely had time to snarl out a curse before a swift jab to her neck knocked her out. The fallen prince sighed and scooped up his cousin's body, shifting it over his shoulder and turning to face Toph. The Metalbender was busy pinning Noatak to the ground, and Lu Ten winced at the sound of snapping bone as a large rock landed on the Waterbender's arm.

"I'm done," the fallen prince said, feeling sick at the sound of Noatak's strangled scream of pain. "Are you sure this is necessary, Toph?"

"You take care of your family business," the Metalbender replied evenly, "and leave me to mine. I'll handle this."

Lu Ten thought about arguing the point, but ultimately decided not to. Determined to intervene if things got too out of hand, however, the fallen prince laid Azula down on the ground and took a seat on a nearby rock.

"Okay," Toph said, her mouth curved into a vicious smirk as she regarded her captive, "now that I'm sure you're not going anywhere, you and I're gonna have a chat. Sound good to you, Bloodbender?"

Noatak could do little more than stare spitefully up and Toph and snarl, all of his energy focused on retaining consciousness as pain lanced pitilessly through each of his broken limbs.

"Good. Now, honestly, I couldn't care less about your stupid crusade to take Bending away from every Bender in the world. That wasn't ever going to work out, anyway. What I _do_ care about, though," Toph continued, her voice gaining a bitter edge, "was that you went and made it personal. You're not a mother, so I don't expect you to understand how much I hate you for what you did to my little girl. But I can guarantee you that the most intense hatred you've ever felt in your entire life doesn't hold a candle to what I've got goin' on.

"So when I say," the Metalbender finished, "that this is going to hurt, you can be damn sure I'm telling you the truth."

Toph lifted up her arms, ripping a chunk of rock out of the ground and bringing it up above Noatak's prone body, right in line with the middle of his back.

"Toph," Lu Ten cut in, disturbing her concentration and making the boulder wobble slightly, "let me ask him something, before you do that."

"No."

"Just one question," the fallen prince insisted. "You owe me far more than that, and you know it."

The Metalbender frowned at the demand, making her anger plain in the rock as it shivered in the air. In the end, she sighed, and the rock was still again—but it stayed right where it was nonetheless.

"Fine."

"Noatak," Lu Ten said quietly, "what are you looking for?"

The Waterbender thought about playing the truth close to his chest, but decided against it as another spike of agony tore through him. The longer he could keep the Firebender talking, the longer he stayed alive.

"Not 'what'," Noatak answered, his voice thin. "'Who'. I need to find my brother. He's the one who brought us both here, intentionally or not."

The fallen prince nodded, glancing down to the still-unconscious body of his cousin for a brief moment before looking back over at Noatak.

"I see," Lu Ten said. "I admire your determination, but I still don't quite understand. Why do you want to find him? That path ends only in grief, I'm afraid."

"What are you talking about?" the Waterbender shot back. "I want to find him because I want to get him out of that forsaken valley. I'm not going to let Tarrlok suffer for something that's my fault."

The Metalbender and Firebender were each quiet for a few moments as Noatak's declaration sunk in, and the Waterbender began to wonder, half-delirious by now with pain, if he might have just won himself a reprieve.

And then Toph began to laugh, and Noatak's fragile hope was shattered.

"Wait," the Metalbender said as she recovered, still chuckling lightly, "wait. You're actually serious. Wow. That's almost sad, really."

She stopped speaking and moved her arms in four precise, powerful bursts, each one crushing one of the rocks pinning Noatak down into rubble. The last to go was the large rock hovering above the injured Waterbender, and he barely felt the smaller rocks pelting him as his mind swam with confusion.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, trying to move his arms and immediately regretting the attempt as he realized the bone had been shattered. "I thought you were going to kill me."

Toph arched an eyebrow at that, seeming just as confused as her captive.

"Kill you?" she repeated, puzzled. "What? No, I was never going to kill you. I was going to do worse than that. But really, no amount of physical pain I could ever cause you would stack up to how much you're going to hurt yourself if you go to find your brother.

"And seeing as how that's the case," the Metalbender finished, "I'll make you a deal, no strings attached. If you still want to go see the Suicides, I'll take you there myself. How's that sound, Bloodbender?"

Noatak's confusion only grew as he considered the offer, unable to make sense of it through the haze of pain still clouding his thoughts.

"Why should I trust you," he said at last, "to do me a favor, when you just tried to murder me?"

Toph stared at him, her face blank.

"Have you been listening to anything we've been saying?" she asked, incredulous. "I'm not doing you a favor, genius. I just want to be there to feel what happens to you when the last thing you love in all of existence gets torn out of your hands. Then we'll be even, I'd say."

The Waterbender smiled in the face of the threat.

"Done," he said. "I think you'll come to understand that underestimating me or my brother is not a smart thing to do, Metalbender. We'll see who regrets what soon enough."

"Yes, we will," Toph agreed, before flicking a rock hard against Notaok's temple and knocking him out. That done, she lifted up the section of ground he was lying on and began to walk out of the small clearing, carrying it floating behind her.

"Thanks, Lu Ten," she called back as she left. "I owe you another one, for that."

The fallen prince said nothing, standing up and making to pick Azula back up again.

"If you don't mind, Crown Prince," a cold, icy voice that sent a hundred needles piercing through Lu Ten's soul spoke out, "I'll take care of her for you."

Lu Ten swallowed his instinctive fear, looking up to regard the unexpected newcomer. It was a figure shrouded in a black cloak, a hood covering its face. It wore no ornaments, carrying nothing but a sword at its hip.

A sword that had the shape of a slender _noh_ mask carved into its hilt: a symbol that told Lu Ten everything he needed to know about the Spirit this messenger answered to.

"Tell me," the fallen prince said, fighting to keep his voice calm, "what does the Face Stealer want with my cousin?"

"My lord's needs do not concern you," the messenger countered simply, shifting his hand to the hilt of his sword for emphasis. "Please, don't make this difficult."

Lu Ten's fists clenched at his sides, but he restrained his impulse to attack.

"Tell Koh," he said lowly, "that if anything happens to her, he'll answer to me for it."

"I will," the cloaked messenger said, moving forward and picking up Azula with a manner that seemed almost like tenderness. "I'm sure my lord could use the laugh. He has fought with Avatars, Crown Prince," he said in parting, "and still he remains. Consider that, before you rush off to confront my master. I am sure your father would hate to lose you a second time."

The cloaked figure bowed and vanished in a flurry of shadow, leaving Lu Ten alone to grapple with the sharp downward shift in his fortunes.

Whenever Koh did anything, nothing good ever came of it.

* * *

"Why did you bring him here, Toph?"

The voice hovered on the very edge of Noatak's perception, but the exhausted Waterbender could clearly hear the paternal concern and disapproval that it held.

"Because I need to see this, pops. Don't try to guilt me out of it."

"Do you really need to watch another person suffer? I wouldn't have expected this kind of spite from you. My brother, perhaps, but not you."

"His father made a fool of me," the Metalbender spit out.

"So, it's pride then? You are better than pettiness such as that."

"_And_ he almost killed Aang!" Toph persisted, unyielding.

"But he did not," the paternal voice countered calmly, "and he lost his Bloodbending in the attempt. Are you going to hold the son liable for the sins of his father?"

"Noatak took away my daughter's Bending, Iroh!" Toph snapped, true anger flaring in her voice at last. "Stop defending him. He's a monster!"

"Your daughter's Bending was restored to her," Iroh replied, his calm tone gaining an edge of insistence. "I am not defending Noatak's actions; I only want you to understand the possible consequences of your own. If you allow him to see his brother, if you allow what shred of love still remains in his heart to be crushed, you will leave him with nothing but hatred to cling to."

"Exactly," the Metalbender agreed, puzzled. "That's the plan. So what?"

Iroh sighed, sounding as weary as anyone Noatak had ever heard.

"I was in the army for most of my life, before I left it behind me," Iroh explained. "In all my experience on the battlefield, I never came across an enemy more tenacious or violent than one that had nothing left to lose. No family to protect, no loved ones to fight for; those were more animals than soldiers, fighting just as hard for their own release from a painful life as they were to take our own.

"I want you to understand," Iroh finished firmly, "that if you go through with this, you will have made yourself a terrible enemy. An enemy that will never stop hating you, never stop hunting you, and will tear you apart in the end. It might not be for another thousand years, but each and every one of those years will be filled with suffering. It would pain me more than I can say to see you reduced to that, Toph. Please, do not do this."

Noatak opened his eyes just in time to see the Metalbender sigh in defeat, before she picked her head back up and pointed over at him.

"He's awake," Toph said. "We can let him choose for himself. If he still wants to go through with this thing, it's his own damn fault. I'm not taking any of the blame for it."

Noatak lifted his head blearily, now finally able to take in his surroundings. He was still lying on a slab of earth, but as he gingerly tried to move his limbs he felt no pain in any of them. As he looked around, the Waterbender realized that he was in the middle of a dense forest, filled with gnarled, sickly black trees. The bigger ones showed obvious signs of rot, and the smaller ones showed no signs of any sort of leaf or bloom.

And attached to each of these trees were spirits, fastened to the trunks and branches by ancient chains of blackened iron. They were all bearing various wounds, from light cuts to deep gashes that were still never quite harmful enough to kill. Notaok watched in horror as the trees themselves soaked up the blood that seeped from the wounds, which caused the tree to grow and the chains to tighten along with it. The process created new wounds in each victim, and the cycle continued over and over again, accompanied by a chorus of agonized weeping, wailing and screaming.

"Terrible," Iroh spoke into Noatak's thoughts, mercifully giving the Waterbender something else to focus on, "is it not?"

"Why is this happening to them?" Noatak asked, astonished by the display of cruelty.

"This is the punishment for suicide," Iroh answered, pausing for a moment to re-adjust the massive pack he carried on his back before continuing. "Those who ran from the life they were given are condemned to suffer an eternity of pain, and yearn for what they can no longer have."

"That's not fair!" the Waterbender shot back, anger and guilt searing within him as he understood that, once more, his little brother had been made to endure terrible anguish because of him. "Tarrlok didn't kill himself because he was a coward!"

"I never said he was," Iroh clarified gently, holding out his hands. "And I agree with you that this punishment is unjust, but there is only so much I can do to alleviate it," he finished, gesturing to the large pack he carried. "I provide some relief to these poor souls, but any treatment I give is far from permanent."

Noatak was silent for a few moments, before he pushed himself up off the elevated slab and stood, facing Iroh.

"I take it you were the one who healed me?"

The other spirit nodded.

"Thank you," the Waterbender said, inwardly surprised by the stranger's kindness.

"Look, this is all really touching," Toph broke in impatiently, "but I have about a hundred other places I'd rather be right now. Are you gonna do this thing, or not?"

Noatak turned to glare at the Metalbender for a tense heartbeat, before looking back over at Iroh.

"Do you know where my brother is?"

"I do."

"Then take me to him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," the Waterbender replied, not missing a beat. "I didn't come all the way here to slink off with my tail between my legs."

"Very well," Iroh said, turning and gesturing for Noatak to follow him as he walked away. "I am sorry."

"Why should you apologize?" the Waterbender asked his companion as they walked, irritated. "All of you are underestimating my brother."

"No," Iroh disagreed, shaking his head sadly, "I am not. I'm sorry because you, Noatak, are the one who is failing to understand your brother's feelings. Have you considered why he chose to take his own life?"

The Waterbender hesitated as his gut answer sprung to his lips, knowing exactly what the old man was getting at and hating himself for it. No. He couldn't accept that reasoning; not until he heard it from his brother's own mouth.

"None of that matters," Noatak answered obstinately, hating how hollow his own words sounded. "I'm not leaving here without Tarrlok."

Iroh held his silence, and kept it until the pair reached a tree that was little more than a sapling, yet still managed to rise at least three times higher than Noatak.

And bound to that tree was Tarrlok, who looked down at his brother with an indecipherable expression.

"What're you doing here, Noatak?" he spoke at last, his voice sounding equal parts tired and disbelieving. "There's no reason why you should be."

"Of course there is, brother," the Waterbender replied earnestly. "I'm going to get you out of here."

Tarrlok smiled sadly, his hair hanging down over his drawn face in disarray.

"You can't do that," he said. "These chains are unbreakable."

Noatak frowned, quickly surveying the area for water and catching sight of a fiercely bubbling brook. He smirked, and Iroh's eyes widened in alarm.

"No," he called out, "you can't do that! You'll both—"

"Enough!" the Waterbender cut him off, reaching out and wrenching a large quantity of water free from the flow. Iroh tried to stop him by launching a pair of fire blasts at Noatak, but they were snuffed out as the water shifted to block them. Noatak slung the water over at Iroh in a wave, just enough to knock him over.

"Stop!" Iroh shouted again, rising to his feet.

But it was too late. Noatak formed the water into a sharp crescent and slung it with all of his strength at the chains binding his brother. The iron warped and cracked, freeing its captive from his torment. Tarrlok's body fell, and the Waterbender made to cushion it…

Only to have his concentration broken by the feeling of a thick root coiling around his leg. Noatak looked down instinctively, and the moment's pause was enough time for the water to dissipate. Tarrlok plummeted to the ground, and a sharp root spike rose from the ground to meet him.

"No!"

Noatak's scream shifted to a twisted howl as he saw his brother impaled on the spike. He didn't even consciously register pulling the water back into an orb, before using it to slash the root that was restraining him to pieces. He rushed over to Tarrlok, whose fall had been stopped by the spike and was being held a few feet off of the ground. Noatak cut the branch apart, allowing his brother's body to fall to rest gently on the ground.

"Brother," he said breathlessly, kneeling down and raising Tarrlok's broken body up slightly off the ground, "hold on. I'll heal you."

Tarrlok gave a rasping laugh, shaking his head mournfully.

"No, you won't," he said. "That wound was fatal. I knew it would be."

The words hit Noatak like a blow to the face, and he couldn't breathe.

"You—" he stammered, unwilling and unable to grasp the simple truth of his brother's words. "You _knew_ this would happen? Then why did you—?"

"Because I know you, Noatak," Tarrlok cut him off with a weak chuckle. "You never could pass up a challenge."

"But… but _why_?" Noatak shouted, confused and panicking as he felt his little brother slipping away from him heartbeat by heartbeat. "We could have left here together. We could have had another chance!"

"I never wanted another chance, brother," Tarrlok said quietly. His voice was so thin, and yet for Noatak it seemed to ring in his ears. "Don't you see? I didn't think we would wind up here, like this. I thought that explosion was going to be the end for both of us. I didn't… I didn't want it to end like this," he finished softly, before letting his eyes close and sighing.

"Tarrlok?" Noatak said in shock as he looked down at his little brother's oddly peaceful expression, heedless of the tears that fell from the corners of his eyes. "Tarrlok!"

"_He cannot hear you, human,_" a harsh, raspy voice answered the Waterbender, seemingly coming from all directions. "_He is dead; truly so, and you have broken one of the most hallowed laws in this place. You will pay for it, dearly._"

"Who said that?" Noatak shouted, getting up on his feet again and looking around with mounting fear. Iroh was nowhere to be seen. "Who are you?"

"I am the keeper of this Valley," the voice spoke again, sounding far more concrete this time. The Waterbender turned around, coming face-to-face with a human shape that seemed to be made entirely of black roots as it emerged from the ground.

"I am the one who enforces our customs," it spoke, black sap dripping in a continuous trickle from the corners of its mouth. "Customs you have so carelessly broken. I will enjoy torturing you for your impudence, human."

The spirit raised its hands high, and roots sprung up in abundance from the ground. Noatak's stance faltered, and the Waterbender could only stare in awe at such a blatant display of power. He sighed and closed his eyes, waiting for the end.

"You!"

The unexpected shout from the angered spirit caused Noatak's eyes to snap open again, and he saw that his fate had been delayed by a new arrival. A seemingly-human figure stood in between the spirit and the Waterbender, facing the one who had called himself the Valley's keeper.

"Me," a calm, smooth voice answered the enraged one. "I'm afraid I can't let you have this one, Kaena."

"Silence, Face Stealer!" the other spirit spat back, and Noatak felt his heart clench. "You have no power here! This place is mine!"

"Oh, I'm well aware of your ownership," Koh answered calmly. "You'll notice I'm even wearing my traveling skin, as a sign of respect. But to say that I have no power here, child? That is a rather foolish assumption, indeed. One I would encourage you not to test."

"Is that a threat?" Kaena seethed, the flow of sap intensifying along with the spirit's rising anger. Koh laughed.

"A threat?" he asked, sounding incredulous. "I'd thought we were both above that, you and I. I don't make threats, boy," the Face Stealer finished, his smooth voice now carrying an undercurrent of menace.

"I make promises."

Kaena snarled, and the roots he had called to him shook and trembled in kind with his defiance. But, in the end, the keeper of the Valley relented.

"Take him," he snarled, "but know that we will settle this in due time."

"I look forward to it," Koh said, bowing in mock civility. "It has been many a moon since the last time I took a fellow spirit's face."

Kaena spat and sunk back beneath the ground, taking the myriad roots along with him. Noatak tensed as he saw Koh turning toward him, making sure that no sign of emotion was showing on his face. His mother had told him the scary stories featuring Koh when he and his brother had been children, and he knew what happened if you so much as twitched around the Face Stealer.

"Oh, don't be silly," the spirit chided as he looked back at the Waterbender, his 'face' an unmoving, pale-white _noh_ mask. "Do you think I would go through all that hassle to save you, and then take away your face?"

Noatak said nothing, staring down the ancient spirit with unblinking eyes. Koh chuckled.

"Have it your way, then, you purist," he said, before holding out one of his hands. "Here, take it," the Face Stealer prompted. "It'll be faster than going back on foot."

Noatak reached out and took Koh's hand in his own. He felt an icy chill cut right through him, and then darkness clouded over his eyes.

"There you are. Wait, what's he doing here?"

"Patience, Princess; patience," Noatak heard Koh responding as he opened his eyes again, not even surprised at this point to find himself in a place that looked like the inside of an enormous tree-trunk. The shock of his brother's sudden, permanent death still lingered over Noatak, and the Waterbender lacked the strength to react to much of anything.

"That's something I'm very quickly running out of," Azula replied, and it didn't escape Noatak's notice that her face was also carefully schooled and completely free of emotion. "While I do appreciate your intervention earlier, I would love to know why you had your minion bring me here," the Firebender finished, pointing over at a figure who the Waterbender noticed was perched up above, on a thick branch. A hood covered its face, hiding it from the dim, musty light.

"Minion?" Koh repeated, sounding mildly affronted. Noatak looked over and saw that the Face Stealer had changed his form dramatically, becoming the huge, vaguely centipede-like insect-spirit that his mother had always described in the stories. "That's a rather rude word to use, Azula. Saiun has been serving me since long before the Fire Nation had even been established; I'd say he deserves your respect."

"My respect is earned," the princess replied evenly, "not given. No matter whom the recipient of it might be."

Koh chuckled again as he continued to slither-walk around the large chamber, before coming to a stop and hanging down to face the Firebender and the Waterbender that stood alongside her.

"Fair," the spirit said, "but I did not bring you here to discuss such matters. I have a story that I want the two of you to hear. Worry not; I'll keep it brief. It is the means, after all, and not the end.

"It is the story of why the Spirits created the Avatar to begin with."

Koh dropped down from the ceiling and coiled in front of the pair, settling down as he began to speak.

"You may have been told that the Avatar exists to bring balance to the world, as the union of all four elements. This is a lie. A lie that the Spirits who banded together to create the Avatar have taken great pains to perpetuate, because it suits their purposes.

"The Avatar," Koh continued, looking from Azula to Noatak and back again, "acts as a bridge between the Mortal and Spirit Worlds; this is something every child knows. But does that bridge need to exist? Do Spirits and Mortals alike not cross that boundary on the Solstices, without the Avatar's assistance?"

The Face Stealer fell silent, waiting for an answer. The princess did not disappoint him.

"The Spirits wanted an anchor," she supplied, her face still perfectly calm. "Something they could use to strengthen the bond between the two worlds, so they could travel between them outside of the Solstice if they ever had to."

"Top marks, Princess," Koh said, but Azula didn't so much as smirk at her accomplishment. The Face Stealer laughed. "Well done. Yes, the Spirits wanted an 'anchor', as you put it. This is why Wan Shi Tong and I so strenuously opposed the very creation of the Avatar, but we were overruled. The last thing we wanted was for the Mortal World to turn into a second battleground for all of our comrades' petty feuds.

"But there is another reason I was against the Avatar from the beginning," Koh pressed on, uncoiling himself and beginning to move around the cavern once again. "One far more obvious; a truth I have seen borne out time and time again, to my dismay. It is a truth Noatak knows well."

The Waterbender thought about it for a few moments, before the memory of his final words with his father sprang back into his mind.

_"What could be more powerful than that?"_

"The Avatar is too strong," he said, earning a nod from the Face Stealer.

"Indeed," the spirit agreed, slithering around behind the pair and positioning his face in the space between them. "No one human should ever have been entrusted with the capacity to shake the world to its foundations on their own. Whatever would the humans do if an Avatar went mad, or was corrupted by a malicious Spirit? How would they defend themselves from the hatred of a vindictive god made flesh?

"Their names have been erased from history, and it is a crime to utter them, but there have been Avatars in the past who turned their powers against mankind. Saiun there," Koh said, gesturing up at his servant, "was forced to kill the fifth Avatar himself, when none of the Spirits could be bothered to dirty their hands cleaning up after their own mess."

"And let me guess," Noatak spoke up again. "You want us to teach the Avatar a lesson for you?"

"Teach her a lesson?" Koh asked, moving back around to look the Waterbender in the eye. "What a brutish implication. Do I look like a back-alley thug to you? No," the spirit continued, "I want you to do something far more important. Avatar Aang escaped me once, and I conceded it to him for the sake of fairness.

"But in choosing to interfere with my designs and return Avatar Korra's lost Bending to her— and giving her the means to do the same for others— he has crossed the boundary of what I am able to forgive. The Avatar is too emboldened, now, and I must take drastic measures to curb her arrogance."

"Wait," Noatak interrupted, drawing Koh's face over to stare at him. The Waterbender's face was smooth, however, and devoid of any expression. "Your 'designs'? Are you saying you had something to do with my Bloodbending?"

"Very perceptive," the Face Stealer said lowly, hanging from the ceiling again as he replied. "Yes, I did have something to do with your father's 'gift'.

"I gave it to him. Or, rather," Koh continued, musing, "I suppose you could say I planted a seed that blossomed into Yakone's unique skill. Something like that is no fluke; that power doesn't simply appear out of nowhere. I knew that kind of Bloodbending was the best chance I had at humbling the Avatar," the spirit finished, his voice turning bitter, "but you know first-hand how that turned out."

"I thought you said this had a point," Azula broke in. "What are you angling at, Koh?"

"Very well, very well," the spirit said, "I'll indulge your curiosity. Avatar Kyoshi's chronic insistence on the use of force to resolve conflict legitimized the warfare that ravaged the Four Nations during her time as the Avatar, and beyond.

"Avatar Roku's foolish sentiment kept him from preemptively ending a war that wound up spanning a century. Avatar Aang's overzealous devotion to re-establishing the lost Airbender culture kept him from focusing on his duties as the Avatar following the establishment of Republic City. This allowed the classist society to emerge that the Benders on the City Council were so intent on preserving.

"And now, Avatar Korra is doing nothing to address that same inequality rampant in Republic City, while she glories in her new power to undo all of my work.

"For generations, the Avatar has made poor choice after poor choice, and it has cost the humans a great deal. Humans that the Avatar is supposedly responsible for protecting. The time for that is over. I have spoken with several other of the Old Spirits, and we have agreed that the Avatar's time has come to an end.

"I want the two of you to carry out that end."

It took every ounce of Azula's self-control to keep her face level when she heard that, and she still only barely succeeded.

"Why us?" the princess asked. "Why not do it yourself?"

"Because not all of the Spirits agree with me, fools that they are," Koh explained. "If I and my allies were to act openly, a war would break out all across this realm. A war that would no doubt consume the Mortal World as well, and completely defeat my purpose."

"So, if we do this for you," Noatak said, "what can we expect in return?"

"Humans," Koh said scornfully, "always so predictable. If doing your world so great a service is not enough, then here is my offer: upon your return to the Mortal World, your flesh and blood will be restored to you— the Spirits who control the Avatar Cycle aren't the only ones who know the old magic at the heart of reincarnation. Serve me well, and your flesh will remain yours when the Avatar has been brought low.

"If you fail me," the Face Stealer finished lowly, "I will take from you what I have given, and let Kaena do what he wills with your souls for the rest of time."

Noatak considered the offer, needing only a few moments before he realized that any choice he had was an illusion. He could refuse, and remain here— but both Toph and the Suicides' keeper would hunt him down, and he would have no one to turn to for support. His brother, the last person he had loved in all of creation, was dead now.

Because of him.

What did he have to lose?

"I'll do it," he said, and Koh nodded.

"Very well. Princess?" The spirit asked, turning to the Firebender.

"Now that I know your plan," Azula said, "If I refuse, you'll just kill me. Am I correct?"

The Face Stealer nodded.

"Naturally."

"Then I chose to live," Azula declared. "I've ended the Avatar Cycle once before, anyway. As long as he doesn't screw it up," she said, jabbing a finger over at Noatak, "this should be easy."

"We can only hope," Koh said, with a glint in his eyes. "Good luck to you both. Oh, and a word of warning," the spirit finished as Saiun leapt down from his perch, drawing his sword as he hit the ground. "This is going to be excruciating."

The cloaked servant swung his blade in an arc before either Azula or Noatak could react, the steel passing through each of their waists and emerging still-bloodless at the end of the strike. The pair looked at each other in confusion, feeling nothing.

"Wha—" Noatak began, before blinding pain ripped through him again and the world went white.

When the Firebender and Waterbender came to, they were both standing on solid ground and gasping for air.

"That bastard," Azula hissed, after she'd gotten her bearings. "What did he do?"

Noatak said nothing, seeing a point where the ground seemed to end and walking to it. He saw the bright lights of Republic City stretched out below him, and he smiled.

"He brought us back," he answered. "We're alive."

Azula stopped and looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them and realizing that they were actual flesh and blood.

"He wasn't lying," the breathed quietly, half to herself as she moved to join her partner by the ledge. "He wasn't ly—"

The princess's word stuck in her throat as she looked over, realizing that a single tear was falling down Noatak's cheek.

"He should be here," he said quietly. "He should be here with us. But I killed him. Twice." The Waterbender gave a bitter chuckle. "What kind of older brother does that make me?" he asked, turning to look at his companion. His blue-gray eyes were clouded with grief, and Azula weighed her next words very carefully. Sentiment was still alien to her, but she knew that if they were going to be successful, Noatak had to let his mourning go.

"You didn't kill him in that Valley," she said, her voice firm but not ungentle. "You set him free. You brother is at peace now."

"Peace?" Noatak echoed, his voice strained from suppressed grief. He shrugged, turning back to the lights of the city. "Perhaps he is. Do you think we'll get our own, when this is done?"

Now it was Azula's turn to shrug.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But either way, this won't be done until we finish it ourselves. Come on," she finished, her tone returning to normal, "first thing's first: we need to get some new clothing."

Noatak looked at Azula, and then at himself. She looked like she'd just walked out of an insane asylum from one-hundred and seventy years ago, and he still looked like the false prophet that every Bender in Republic City wanted to execute—and no doubt many of his own former followers, as well.

"Good point," he said, before turning and walking towards the staircase leading down into the building. "I know a place, not too far from here. Then we should disappear, until it's time to make our first move."

"Of course," Azula agreed, smiling as she followed her partner down the staircase.

She had her body back, a powerful Bloodbender as an ally, and her job was to do something she would have done for free anyway. And after they'd taken care of the Avatar, Republic City would be next.

It had been far too long since she'd sat on a throne, after all.

* * *

…

…

**A/N:** The plot, as they say, thickens. I've always been fascinated with the potential of the Spirit World in the AtLA/Korra universe, and after Amon/Noatak bit the dust at the end of Korra's first season, the wheels started spinning in my head. This is the result of that.

I hope you enjoyed it, and that everyone sounded right, character-wise; I was most concerned about Noatak, since he doesn't actually get that many substantial lines of dialogue in the show.

Also, before I go, I need to give big thanks to **beinghipsteristoomainstream**/**sarinap**/**Sarina**, whose constant kind words and encouragement really helped me along while I was writing these scenes in their original, individualized formats over on tumblr. She's great!

Thanks for reading!

**- Jazz**


	3. Rubicon

**Players and Pawns  
**

**Chapter 3: **Rubicon

* * *

"These are… oddly pretty," Azula mused as she and Noatak walked under a row of streetlights, sticking to the unoccupied side-streets in their journey for new, less-conspicuous clothing. The Bloodbender arched an eyebrow.

"I thought you'd seen them before. Haven't you been keeping tabs on the Mortal World since you died?"

"Well, yes," the princess allowed, even as she swept her gaze around again and soaked in the look of Republic City at night once more. "But seeing these things from a bird's-eye view—and not even with actual _eyes_, mind you—is completely different from this."

Noatak was about to reply, but the words caught in his throat as he espied an uncomfortably familiar face staring back at him from within a wanted poster. Azula noticed her companion's silence and followed his eyes, her good mood evaporating instantly as she saw what was holding the Bloodbender so transfixed.

"Are they serious?" the princess asked scathingly, staring down the wanted poster for the dead man standing next to her. "Why waste your time chasing after a ghost?"

"They must think I survived that explosion," Noatak said, chuckling. "I'd be flattered, if their vigilance wasn't going to be a hindrance."

"A hindrance?" Azula echoed, arching an eyebrow of her own. "How could a few Metalbenders possibly slow us down?"

"They can't," Noatak replied, "but leaving a trail of corpses in our wake isn't what I would call the most effective way to stay hidden."

"True," the princess agreed. "But once we've found somewhere to put a roof over our heads, we're going to have to take the offensive. Drawing out the Avatar is one thing, but luring her into the Avatar State will require a fair deal more… coercion. Does she have anyone close to her we could use as bait?"

It only took Noatak a moment to come up with an answer, and he smiled.

"She does," he said, the wheels in his head turning as the pair continued to walk along the empty street. "But getting to him would require storming Air Temple Island, and I'm sure they've at least doubled their guard since my last attack. Unless," the Bloodbender continued, his gray-blue eyes brightening slightly, "we can bait him out as well."

"One thing at a time," Azula said evenly, before sniffing the air and frowning as her nose wrinkled. "I smell like a sewer," she groused, looking over her clothes disparagingly. "Are we close?"

"It's just right around this corn—"

Noatak cut off his answer abruptly and took hold of Azula by the arm as soon as he saw the unmistakable beam of a police van's floodlight tear through the night air. The Bloodbender pressed himself up against the wall and hid in the shadows, pulling the princess along with him. Azula got the message and didn't make a sound, the pair inching their way around the corner still veiled in shadow.

"Up against the wall and on your knees, Equalists!"

A group of Metalbenders had hedged in two young men Noatak recognized immediately as Hanzo and Sarrak, two of his most promising recruits. The police force had the trapped duo outnumbered two-to-one, however, and so the Bloodbender decided to wait it out.

"Hey!" Hanzo called out as an officer took the pair of _katana_ from his waist, his green eyes widening in anger. "What're you doing? Those're mine!"

"Not anymore they aren't, you rat," one of the other Metalbenders spat out, before cuffing Hanzo hard in the back of the head. "And watch your mouth when you're talking to my friends."

"Do you even have dirt on us," Sarrak asked, his blue eyes as exasperated as his voice, "or are you just enjoying being a bunch of assholes?"

"Oh, we got us a comedian!" another of the officers crowed. "Don't think we don't remember you two from that day at the station, boys," she finished spitefully. "Green eyes over here—"

"My name's Hanzo," the young swordsman shot back.

"Green eyes played at being one of Councilman Tarrlok's aides," the policewoman carried on as if she'd never been interrupted, "and then broke you out of your cell. Smooth work for a hired blade and a Water Tribe thug, I'll give you that much."

"Oh yeah?" Hanzo shot back, his wrists chaffing at the cuffs that had just been unceremoniously slapped onto them. "Tell your buddy over there to give me my swords back, or I'll cut his head off with them."

"Okay, that's it," the officer who had confiscated Hanzo's _katana_ barked out. "Into the van, punk. I'm sure the Chief would love to have some words with you back at base."

The young swordsman was roughly hauled to his feet and led towards the van. Hanzo had gone all of five steps before he wrenched himself forward, pulling the officer behind him along. Hanzo kicked his right leg back hard behind him, enough to throw the officer the rest of the way off-balance. The young swordsman had spun around and let a brutal snap-kick off at the officer's head by the time the rest of the Metalbenders had even reacted, and the sickening sound of bone snapping beneath metal was proof enough that the attack had broken the policeman's neck.

"Oh, I like this one," Azula whispered, her amber eyes flashing in the darkness. "He's got spine."

"Shit!" one of the other Metalbenders cursed, before a swarm of cables lashed out at Hanzo and brought him back down to his knees. "You bastard!"

"So what if my parents weren't married when I was born?" the swordsman shot back, laughing, before a hard punch to the face shut him up. A trickle of blood seeped down from the corner of his mouth as a bruise blossomed on his cheek.

"Screw bringing this piece of shit back to base," one of the nine remaining police officers growled out. "He just used lethal force, and I say that gives us the right to do the same."

"Before I smash your head in, kid," another one of the police officers said, "I just wanna know why you did that. Amon's dead. Why're you throwing your life away following a corpse?"

Hanzo laughed.

"If you think Amon has anything to do with this at all," he said, shaking his head, "you're totally missing the point. And if you're really gonna kill me, just do it. I hate posturing."

"Fine," the policewoman said grimly, "have it your way."

Sarrak had been silent for several moments, having sunken into a meditative half-trance as he knelt facing the wall. As the officer who had taken it upon herself to execute Hanzo aimed her hook at the swordsman's neck for a killing blow, however, the young man from the Northern Water Tribe began to laugh.

"What?" one of the officers finally asked, growing irritated as Sarrak's laughter showed no signs of stopping. "What's so funny?"

"I can't believe this," the blue-eyed young man said at last, getting slowly to his feet. "Literally, this cannot be happening."

He started laughing again, but quickly curbed himself before one of the officers decided to shut him up forcefully. "Just so you know," he said, turning to face the Metalbenders, "you're all about to die horrendously painful deaths. If you let my friend there go, though," Sarrak continued, glancing over to the shadows where Noatak and Azula were hidden for a brief moment before shifting his eyes back, "I might be able to convince the boss to at least make it quick.

"But if you kill Hanzo," he finished, smiling darkly, "I'll tell him to take his time."

"What the hell is he babbling about? Yun; sit him back down, will ya? I'm sick of these crazies."

One of the policewomen sent a grapple slamming into Sarrak's gut, and he fell back down to his knees. As he looked up into the face of the Metalbender who had attacked him, Sarrak smiled again.

"Well," he said, "I tried. She's all yours, boss."

"What're yo—" the officer began, before she choked up and started to quiver.

"Oh, man," Sarrak said viciously, "that _can't_ be comfortable."

"Yun? Yun!" another Metalbender called out, beginning to panic. "What's wrong?"

The officer tried to speak, but Sarrak drew a knife from his boot and slammed its tip through her throat.

"Nothing, anymore," he jeered, wiping the blade off on the Metalbender's uniform before her corpse fell to the ground.

"You—!"

The shout was cut off just as abruptly as Yun's had been, and all eight of the other officers found themselves unable to move a muscle.

"It's not me you should be worrying about," Sarrak said calmly, before pointing over to the duo that was making its way out into the light.

"It's them."

Noatak lifted the Metalbenders up into the air with a single upward motion of his arm, and Azula gave him an approving glance.

"Impressive," she said, "but it does take the fun out of it, don't you think?"

"I don't fight for the sport of it," the Bloodbender countered, drawing a dry chuckle from the princess.

"Of course you don't," she said, "and I'm sure Lightning Bolt Zolt would agree with you completely."

"Just finish this."

"Oh, fine," she sighed, settling into a stance and taking a breath to focus. "If you're going to be such a killjoy, though, I'm taking point next time."

Azula said no more, stepping forward and unleashing a blast of blue fire that instantly killed four of the suspended police officers. As she moved forward to get a better angle on the remaining four, Sarrak walked over to Noatak's side, limping slightly.

"I don't know how you did it," he said, "and I don't care. Good to have you back, Sir."

The Bloodbender looked over at his former soldier, unconvinced.

"You're still calling me that?" he said. "Even after what happened?"

Sarrak nodded.

"Of course," he affirmed, pausing to wince at the sight of Azula roasting one of her targets inside of their armor. "You still believe in the cause, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll still follow you," the young man said with a nod, "as will others. Not everyone's abandoned the movement." Sarrak paused. "That really is Princess Azula, isn't it?"

"In the flesh," Noatak said with a small nod. "She crossed over with me."

"'Crossed over'? You mean, back from the Spirit World?"

Another nod.

Sarrak let out a low whistle as the princess dispatched her penultimate target.

"I'll be damned."

"Not for a while yet," the Bloodbender replied with a smirk. "I'll be needing your talents for what's to come."

Azula advanced slowly on her last victim, the one who had come within a hair's breadth of executing Hanzo only a few minutes earlier.

"Do you want to know why I saved you for last? Of course you do," she said lowly, every word radiating loathing. "An opponent gets the better of you, and you don't even give them the chance to die in a fair fight? Disgraceful."

The princess called lightning to her fingertips, before blasting twin arcs of it right into the Metalbender's highly conducive armor. The officer's scream pierced the air for a few anguished heartbeats, and then fell silent.

Azula walked over to where Hanzo was still kneeling, working to free himself from the now-limp steel cables that hung useless around him.

"Can you stand?" she asked, drawing the swordsman's eyes up to his rescuer. Hanzo was quiet for a few moments, his eyes wide with shock.

"You… you're…" he said, before shaking his head at the absurdity of it all. Hanzo's brain was telling him in no uncertain terms that he was going crazy, but he couldn't ignore what was staring him right in the face.

"No fucking way," he breathed out at last, the shock in his eyes giving way to admiration. "You really are Azula, aren't you?"

"Oh, no," Sarrak groaned, pressing his hand to his forehead. "I completely forgot."

"What?" Noatak prompted, and his soldier sighed.

"Hanzo wrote his university thesis on Azula's coup of Ba Sing Se," Sarrak explained. "He's a fan."

"This is— wow," the swordsman said, his fatigue finally catching up to him. "Am I dreaming?"

"No," Azula answered quietly, kneeling down to be at eye-level with Hanzo, "but you're about to."

The princess's hand shot out and jabbed the swordsman in the neck, driving him the rest of the way to unconsciousness. She braced him as he fell forward, before picking him up and carrying him over to the van. Sitting Hanzo up in the back seat, Azula turned to Noatak.

"Can you drive this thing?" she asked, and the Bloodbender nodded.

"I'll tell you where to go, Sir," Sarrak said, as he climbed into the back next to Hanzo and laid his friend's recovered pair of _katana_ at his side.

"Sarrak," Noatak asked as he got into the driver's seat, "how did you know we were there?"

"Just because I can't Waterbend," the young man said, "that doesn't mean I can't sense _chi_. Runs in my family."

Noatak nodded and eased the van to life, while Azula got into the passenger's seat.

The van revved up and sped off into the night, leaving ten Metalbender bodies behind it. A few moments later, after silence had settled back over the street, a lone witness hobbled out of a side alley. It was a ragged street urchin, her face lean and light golden eyes hungry.

"He's back," she said softly, a hesitant smile playing about the edges of her lips that grew larger and larger as she realized the full weight of what had just happened.

"He's back!" she shouted grinning, before darting off down the alleyway and back home to spread the news.

* * *

"You're doing _what_?"

"Please, Miss Sato," the businessman sitting across from the new head of Future Industries replied smoothly, "at least try to understand where I'm coming from."

"Oh, I do understand," Asami snapped back, her eyes bright with anger, "and where you're coming from is a selfish, greedy direction. If money is all that's keeping you from backing this project, I'll just increase my personal stake in it."

"Contrary to popular opinion, not everything I do is motivated by money," the businessman countered, "and frankly I'm more than a little insulted by your implication to that effect.

"I respect your noble intentions," he continued, "but where you surpass your father in idealism, he was miles and miles ahead of you in business sense. Do you have any idea exactly whom you'll be going up against if you push forward with this initiative of yours, Miss Sato?"

"They don't matter," Asami said stubbornly. "I have the Avatar on my side."

"Oh, do you? Tell me," the businessman mused as he cast his pale gray eyes around the rest of the empty room, "where exactly is Avatar Korra? Did she not think this meeting was important enough to merit her attendance?"

"She's working on improving her Airbending with Master Tenzin," Asami bit out. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with everything that matters, Miss Sato," the businessman answered, sighing and rising to his feet. "You must understand that a Bender will always be a Bender, and a non-Bender will always be a non-Bender. There was one chance to level that playing field, but the man who could have done it was blown to pieces."

Asami did a double-take at that, nearly spitting out the water she'd just taken a sip of.

"Did I just hear you praising Amon? That's criminal!"

"There's a difference between praising and stating a fact," the businessman clarified. "I suggest you learn it. The Benders of Republic City—and indeed, the rest of the world—have a vested interest in maintaining their control. If they have to, they'll bring you down in any way you let them."

Asami chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound.

"Is there some kind of secret Bender conspiracy I'm not aware of?" she asked, not even bothering to hide her scorn. "Come on; don't be ridiculous."

The businessman smiled, a pitying look in his eyes.

"I am sorry for you," he said, "to have been shielded from this life by your father for so long. Hiroshi kept you ignorant, when he should have taught you some very valuable lessons instead."

"Really?" Asami said, growing angrier and angrier at the presumptuousness of her guest. "Like what?"

"Like the fact that there are few forces more powerful than the myth of exceptionalism," the businessman answered. "Why else do you think Benders were so terrified of Amon? He didn't just take away their Bending. He pulled their power up from its absolute root.

"And that power is something they'll do anything to protect, as I said," he spoke, as he walked towards the door. "Any angle you give them, they _will_ exploit. Say, for example," he added, looking back over his shoulder, "a dalliance with a Firebending General of the United Forces."

Asami felt the air lurch out of her gut, and for a few moments she couldn't do more than stare.

"That—" she stammered. "That was nothing! We were just—"

"—going out for some tea, yes," the businessman cut her off, before sighing. "And I believe you; truly, I do. But you must remember, Miss Sato, that appearances are everything. 'Why were you spending your time with a Firebender, rather than a non-Bender such as yourself?' 'As a supposed advocate for equal rights, why didn't you lead by example?' These are the kinds of questions you will be asked," he said gravely, "and these are the kinds of questions that have no ironclad answers."

Asami sat back in her chair, still reeling. For the first time since their decisive brawl that had torn them apart, the young woman silently wished that her father could be there to advise her. But he was still rotting away in prison for his crimes, and so the next best thing would have to do.

"What would you suggest, Mister Quan?" she asked, and the businessman smiled genuinely.

"I can try my best to dissuade those who might try to get in the way of your initiative—but, as much as it pains me to say it, doing you that favor might also require means that are… slightly unorthodox."

"You need to grease a couple of palms," Asami supplied, "and you need more money behind you to sound convincing. Right?"

Quan nodded, looking more than a little embarrassed.

"Exactly, Miss Sato," he said, before giving her a look that twinkled with the faintest spark of mischief. "It sounds like your father taught you some things, after all."

"I didn't spend my childhood just sitting around," Asami replied with a small smile, before it grew into an openly grateful one. "Thank you for your help, Mister Quan. I can't tell you how much it means. My apologies for being so standoffish earlier," she finished as she rose, giving a short bow in farewell. Quan returned the gesture, smiling in kind.

"No need to thank me," the businessman assured his partner. "I believe in your mission, and it gladdens me that you are so willing to see it accomplished. If you ever need anything else, just let me know."

"And the same to you, as well," Asami said, before sitting back down with a small sigh. "I'll have the _yuan _sent to your account right away."

"Much obliged, Miss Sato," Quan said, before turning and walking out of the large office.

The businessman had only been waiting on the sidewalk for a few minutes when a Satomobile drove slowly down the street and idled in front of him. Quan walked over and got into the passenger's seat, next to a young woman wearing an eye-patch sitting on the driver's side. Her single good eye flashed amber in the morning sunlight.

"How'd it go?"

Quan shrugged, running a hand absently through his silver hair.

"Just fine, Mira," he answered. "I got what I came for, and she seems to trust me. Let's go; right now all I want is some breakfast and a big cup of tea."

"That'll have to wait, sorry," the young woman said as she eased on the accelerator, bringing the car to life again as it sped off down the street. "We're needed back at base. It's urgent."

"Oh? Who made the call?"

"Sarrak, over one of our special frequencies."

"I see. What did he have to say?"

"Beats me," Mira replied with a shrug. "He just sounded excited, said I wasn't going to believe it and told me that 'the Equalist movement was about to make a comeback'."

"Odd," Quan mused, looking distantly out at the blur of people and buildings that passed by as the car made its way through the streets and towards the more impoverished districts. "Usually he's not one to use that kind of hyperbole. You don't think it could be a trap…?" he suggested, but Mira shook her head.

"If it was, he'd have said something else," she explained. "We've had an emergency code worked out for a while to use when the police are cracking down."

"Smart," the businessman commended, before giving a rueful chuckle. "I've been away from the action for too long," he lamented. "Nothing makes you feel older than sitting in a big chair and staring out your window at all the other things you could be doing."

"But you're still doing something important," Mira reminded him, smiling. "We're nothing without a bankroll, and Hiroshi left a pretty big hole when he got himself locked up."

"True," Quan said, as they finally came to the last turn before the old warehouse that now functioned as a base of operations for the Equalist remnant. As he caught sight of an empty police van parked to the side of the entrance, though, Quan's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Are you sure this isn't a trap, Mira?" he asked lowly, reaching under the seat as he did so to pry free the stun-glove that had been stashed there for emergencies.

"No," Mira cautioned him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You stay here; I'll check it out."

Quan nodded.

"Be careful."

The young Equalist gave her compatriot a small smile.

"Always."

Mira got out of the car and crouched to stay out of sight, quickly shuffling over to the trunk, popping it open and pulling out her bow. She slid a few arrows into the space between her hip and her sash, before notching one against the taut gut bowstring. Moving in swift silence, the Equalist approached the police van forced her nerves to remain calm. Mira reached the two doors in the back, threw them open and raised her bow…

Only to find that she was looking at nothing more than an empty vehicle.

A pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist, and Mira almost jumped out of her skin.

"Easy," that voice she knew so well whispered into her ear, ever-so-slightly teasing. "It's just me."

"Damn it, Sarrak," she groused, even as she reflexively relaxed back into her boyfriend's welcome embrace. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Sarrak apologized, turning Mira around to face him and running a hand gently through her dark hair. "Didn't mean to. I just missed you."

"I was only gone for a day."

"So?"

Mira laughed, and the sound of it was almost enough to take Sarrak's mind off of the guilt he felt whenever he saw his girlfriend's eye-patch. Almost.

"Stop that," he vaguely heard her say, blinking and seeing that she was frowning up at him in that adorably petulant way of hers.

"Stop what?"

"Don't even try that with me," Mira countered, reaching over and letting her hand trail lightly across the thin lines of scar tissue on the left side of Sarrak's face. "You have that 'Oh no, it's my fault she lost an eye; I'm a terrible person, woe is me' look in your eyes again. Pisses me off, and you know it."

"Come on," Sarrak said imploringly, "I'm nowhere _near_ that dramatic. That's Hanzo's job," he added, smiling.

Mira sighed and closed the space between them, letting herself sink into a kiss for a few all-too-brief moments. After they broke apart, she backed away and knelt down to pick up her bow, never once taking her eye off of her boyfriend.

"I missed you too," she said, flashing Sarrak a smile.

"Oy! You two done messing around? We have somewhere to be!"

Mira huffed, irritated at the newcomer for ruining the mood.

"You jealous, Hanzo?" she asked, giving the young swordsman a hard stare.

"Not at all," he answered with a laugh, lightly itching the dark bruise on his cheek. "Just thought I'd remind you," he continued, shifting his eyes over to Sarrak, "that the boss doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Mira arched her eyebrow, confused.

"We have a boss now? When did that happen?"

"Since we had a pretty crazy night last night," Sarrak said. "Come on; you'll see. I don't want to ruin the surprise."

"Okay…" Mira replied, drawing the word out over a few syllables. "But I need to go give Quan the all-clear first, before he starts worrying."

She darted off, leaving the two friends alone.

"Seriously, man," Sarrak said, turning to face Hanzo, "it's like you live to wreck all of my happy moments. I need to get you laid."

"You make it sound like you'd be helpful in trying to pick someone up."

"Yeah, fuck you too. Not like I saved your life last night, or anything."

"That just makes us even. What's your point?"

"I hate to interrupt such an eloquent discussion," Quan's voice broke in dryly, "but it's been a long morning and I haven't had my tea yet. Can we just get this over with?"

"Sure," Hanzo said with a sly smile, turning back towards the doors of the warehouse and walking over. He parted the doors with a shove and entered, stepping to the side to make room for his companions. Sarrak followed suit a moment later, leaving the main table in the center of the room visible as Mira and Quan walked into the warehouse.

And as soon as they saw who occupied the seat at the head of the table, their mouths dropped open slightly and their eyes widened in collective shock.

"You know," Azula mused with a smirk from her place at Noatak's right, "I don't think that look is ever going to get old."

"Is that…?" Quan finally got out, and Sarrak nodded.

"Yes, it is."

Mira blinked away her surprise at seeing her former leader alive again, only to be caught off-guard again when she thought she recognized the woman sitting next to him.

"She can't be—" Mira began, before stopping herself short and looking over at Hanzo. "Is she?"

"Oh yeah," Hanzo assured her. "Weren't you listening when Sarrak said last night had been crazy?"

"I was," Mira replied, her voice still muted with wonder. "But there's crazy, and then there's this."

Azula caught sight of what Mira was carrying, and smiled.

"That's a Yu Yan's bow," she said, gesturing to the weapon, its strong teak wood silvered with age. "It's rare to see a reminder of home like that one all the way out here. How did you come to have it?"

"I inherited it from my father, my Lady," Mira answered, "who had inherited it from his father before him. My grandfather was a member of the Yu Yan under Fire Lord Ozai."

"I see," the princess said, nodding. "Then your lack of an eye won't slow you down, I assume?"

"Not at all," Mira insisted. "As long as I still have one, I can hit anything."

"Very good," Azula commended, turning to Noatak again as Mira blushed with pride. "You certainly didn't cut corners in recruitment. That should make this a lot easier."

The Bloodbender nodded, regret clouding his eyes in a moment of recollection.

"I had a great scout find them," he said, before looking over at Quan. "Do we have any idea where he is?"

The businessman nodded.

"He drinks through a bottle or two most nights at the same dive," Quan told his leader. "Do you want to send some people out to bring him in?"

Noatak shook his head.

"I got him in to that mess," he said solemnly, "and I'll get him out of it myself. I owe him much more than that, after what happened between us."

"Of course, Sir."

"How did your meeting with Sato go, Quan?" one of the other Equalists at the table spoke up, a woman with sharp brown eyes and matching hair that was split down the middle by a shock of white.

"About as well as could be hoped for, Elia," he said. "Asami sees me as something of a confidant, and the loan she offered to give me for persuading her rivals should be more than sufficient for our purposes."

"You have a number for that amount yet?"

"No, but that just takes a phone call."

"Then you should make it, my friend," Noatak rejoined, looking around the table at his rediscovered allies. "It is very encouraging to see all of you still here, fighting for the cause that I was forced to abandon, however briefly.

"I want all of you to know, as my brothers and sisters in this struggle, that I still believe in Equality. I always have, and I always will. It is true that I deceived you, and for that I am deeply sorry.

"I should have been honest with you, but the truth is that I was afraid. Afraid that those who could not see into the heart of my purpose would accuse me of hypocrisy, and that our enemies would use that in an attempt to ruin our movement completely.

"But I no longer harbor such fears, my friends. The time for that is over. I have crossed the celestial boundary into the Spirit World, and have returned entrusted with a mission from one of the most ancient and revered Spirits in existence. It is that mission which I aim to fulfill, in order that balance might return to a fundamentally imbalanced world.

"The Avatar will fall, and the entire corrupt cycle of reincarnation will end with her. If any of you have reservations about following me once again; if there is any seed of doubt in your hearts, you may leave now and go without fear of pursuit. But if you remain with me, I can promise you that there will be no more secrets between us, and no more lies. We are all equals in this struggle. The power and strength of our ideals are constants. That will never change."

Silence followed Noatak's declaration, hanging in the air for a few heartbeats until Sarrak rose to his feet and slammed his hands down on the table.

"I'm in," he pledged, his eyes burning with conviction. "There's no way I'm going back to what I had before this, and especially not when I have a debt that still needs paying." He clenched one of his hands into a fist and placed it over his heart, looking Noatak in the eyes.

"_Until the tides cease to flow, and the Moon herself darkens in the sky, I will follow you,"_ he said, speaking the old Water Tribe oath of fealty in their shared dialect.

Mira was the next to rise, followed closely by Hanzo. One by one, the men and women seated at the table rose to their feet and declared their loyalty to Noatak. Only one of them, a young man with proud green eyes, dark hair and a narrow, determined face, refused to stand. Noatak looked at him for a few tense moments, at last breaking the silent standoff with a sharp smile and the smallest of nods.

"Ichiro," Hanzo called over to him, "stand up."

"No," Ichiro shot back. "Sorry, but I have somewhere else I need to be. I'd rather follow a Bender like Tenzin than a Bender like Amon, or Noatak, or whatever his name actually is."

"Ichiro," the young swordsman called out, but in vain. His comrade finally got to his feet, nodded once at Noatak, and turned towards the door. "Ichiro, you asshole; get back here!"

"Let him go, Hanzo," Azula urged calmly, standing up at last alongside Noatak. "It's fine."

"What?" Hanzo breathed out, turning to face the princess. "How is that fine?"

"Think about what just happened," Azula continued. "Focus."

"But—" the young swordsman began, before his voice trailed off and he hung his head with a sigh. "Man, I am an _idiot._"

"Strong emotions cloud our judgment," Noatak said. "There is no shame in that. It's good that you've gotten them out of your system, as well. I have a mission for the three of you," he finished, singling out Hanzo, Sarrak and Mira. "Hiroshi Sato is being held in Tetsukabe prison, and I need to speak with him. Bring him to me."

"Of course, Sir," Sarrak said, sounding completely confident at the prospect of breaking into Republic City's most secure penitentiary. "What will you be doing?" he asked his leader, as Noatak walked away from the main table and over towards a smaller one sitting near the wall.

"Azula and I will be paying a visit to our esteemed Chief of Police," he answered, reaching down and picking a ceramic mask up off of the table. He fastened its black straps around the back of his head, and lifted his hood up to cover it. When Noatak turned back to face his followers, he had transformed back into the faceless force that had given their movement its strength.

"I had assumed that the two of us would be acting alone," the Equalist leader continued, his blue-gray eyes cold as they stared out from the eye-holes of his mask. "But with this much support, we have the ability to move with far more freedom.

"It is time to send a message to the Avatar, my brothers and sisters. One that she will not possibly be able to ignore. The Benders of Republic City believe that I am dead, and that my powers have been rendered obsolete by the interference of Avatar Aang.

"We will show them that this is far from true. We will show them that there are things in life even more painful for a Bender than being stripped of their powers, and we will write that message in fire and blood."

Noatak walked out of the warehouse, Azula moving to follow at his side. The remaining Equalists shared a long look, coming to a moment of mutual understanding before each of them went to mind their own tasks.

There was work to be done.

* * *

Lin Bei Fong stared down at the corpses of her officers as they lay slowly rotting in the daylight, looking at each of their faces and realizing with cold hatred that someone had taken ten members of her family away from her.

She'd failed them.

The Chief of Police looked up as the sound of a Sky Bison landing reached her ears.

"I'm not in the mood, Tenzin."

"I just wanted to make sure you were doing all right," the Airbending master said as he dismounted and walked over to join his old friend, concern heavy in his voice. Lin looked over at him, her frown deepening.

"I'm not the one you should be worried about," she grit out, turning her attention back down to the charred corpses of her officers. "Whoever did this is a different story."

"Lin," Tenzin said gently, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Lin hung her head and sighed, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Not as sorry as I am."

The Airbender let the silence breathe for a few moments, before sighing and prodding the open wound.

"Do we have any leads?"

"Other than the fact that this was clearly done by a Firebender, none. No one around here is talking, which I wish I could say surprised me."

"Chief!" one of the other Metalbenders called out, hurrying over. "Someone's here who says they know about the murders!"

"Looks like somebody wants to talk, after all," Tenzin said as the pair followed the officer's lead.

They found a young man sitting on the steps of a nearby apartment complex, his clothing torn and ragged and his arms and face streaked with dirt, sweat and blood. What could be seen of his skin was mottled with dark bruises. He looked up slowly as the Chief and the Airbender approached, and Lin could see that his green eyes were hollow and afraid.

"What's your name?" she asked him, trying to keep her voice calm against the rising anger in her stomach that refused to diminish.

"Ichiro," he answered, sounding strained. "I already told your other guy I didn't want to talk to the cops."

"But you know about what happened," Lin prompted, her eyes narrowing. Ichiro shrugged.

"That doesn't mean I want to talk about it," he shot back. "Look at me, Chief. You think I want to go through all that again?"

"We can protect you," Tenzin said. Ichiro snorted.

"Yeah," he replied, looking over at the pile of corpses on the ground, "I'm sure you could."

"Listen, you—" Lin growled, before Tenzin put a firm hand on her shoulder to cut her off.

"We need to know what happened," the Airbender reiterated. "Any gang that can take down a squad of Metalbenders is a serious risk to the security of Republic City."

"A gang?" Ichiro echoed. "You think a gang did this, Councilman? She's already killed or locked up all the ones that were stupid enough to tread on her toes," he finished, pointing at Lin.

"Then if it wasn't a gang," the Chief said, having regained her poise, "who was it?"

"You don't want to know the answer to that question."

"Yes, I do."

Ichiro paused, his eyes clouding over as he weighed his options.

"I want your word," he said at last, "that this," he gestured to his wounds, "won't ever happen to me again. Promise me that, and I'll talk."

"So start talking."

"Not before I have a guarantee, Chief."

Lin grit her teeth, rapidly growing tired of dealing with some punk who thought he had any right to negotiate at a time like this.

"You have my word," she said at last. "These officers here with me will be your security detail; they're some of the best I have."

Ichiro nodded.

"Works for me," he said. "As to who killed your troops over there, it was Amon."

As soon as the words had reached her ears, Lin had to bite back a snarl of frustration.

"I can't believe I wasted my time with a liar," she said. "Deal with this trash yourself, Tenzin. I have more important things to do."

"You think I'm lying?" Ichiro shot back without missing a beat, his voice rising in anger. "Take your boot off and tell me that again, Chief."

"Lin," Tenzin said quietly as his old friend stopped in her tracks at the challenge, "just give him a chance, please. He's the only lead we have right now."

Lin peeled the metal of her boot back, placing her bare foot on the pavement.

"I just came from an Equalist meeting in a warehouse our splinter group took over after the big split," Ichiro began. "Call went out last night that something big was happening, so I went over to check it out. I walk in the door and Amon's sitting at the table, looking like he'd never been gone at all.

"He starts going on about how he's sorry he deceived us, about how he still believes in Equality; you get the drift. He asks for a pledge of allegiance, and of course a lot of people fall in line. I mean, who'd want to stand up to a Bloodbender, right?

"But I didn't bite," Ichiro continued, his eyes narrowing as bitterness bled into his calm. "And a few others didn't either. I figured, if he betrayed us once, why wouldn't he do it again? Not to mention that he's a psycho who can kill you with his mind. I don't think I'd last very long around a guy like that if he ever got pissed off, you know?

"So I made a break for it, while Amon was busy in a backroom getting a new mask to wear or something. I made it out of the warehouse and down a block or two before I realized I was being followed. I ran as hard as I could, but they caught me and beat me until I passed out. I guess they thought I'd either die, or someone else would come and finish me off for what was in my pockets. Some brothers and sisters they were.

"I woke up with some rats trying to get a piece of me, but still breathing. Amon had been talking about taking out some Metalbenders last night, so I came here to see for myself if it'd been true. Don't know how to explain the burn wounds, though," Ichiro finished with a shrug, before falling silent.

Lin scrutinized the Equalist for a few more tense moments before sighing, lifting her foot and re-casing it in metal.

"You're an idiot," she said, "and the luckiest scumbag I've ever seen, to get out of a fix like that in one piece. From what I can tell," Lin continued as she turned to Tenzin, "he's not lying."

"But what about the burns? Amon couldn't have done that."

"I know," the Chief of Police said, her eyes narrowing. "Which tells us that he's gotten himself a few Firebenders as allies. And if he's recruiting Benders now, then there's no line he won't cross this time.

"He's going to declare total war on us, Tenzin. I'd bet my life on it."

The Airbender had to fight to repress a shiver at that, the all-too-vivid memories of finding Lin lying in the dirt, robbed of her Bending rising up in his thoughts again.

"Let's hope," he said gravely, "that it doesn't come to that. Korra defeated Amon once; I'm sure that if she had to, she could do it again."

"Yeah," Ichiro rejoined, arching an eyebrow, "where is the Avatar? Shouldn't she be helping you deal with this?"

"Korra's dealings are none of your concern," the Airbender replied, his tone turning frigid. "If you think this confession of yours got you completely off of the hook, you're wrong."

Ichiro snorted.

"I don't care if you throw me in a solitary cell at this point, baldy. As long as I'm out of Amon's reach, I'll be fine."

"Chief! Chief! We have a big problem!"

The Metalbender came bolting over to the trio, her eyes wide with shock and horror.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"The station is under attack," the officer answered. "We just got the distress call over the radio. It's Amon, and he's got a Firebender with him. One who can make blue fire."

The onslaught of bad news sent both Lin and Tenzin reeling, and it was a few moments before either of them had gotten over their shock enough to speak.

"Blue fire…" Tenzin breathed, his eyes wide with fear. "Only one Firebender in history has ever been capable of that. This is impossible."

"Apparently not," Lin said, setting her feet and forcing her emotions back under control. "But how this happened doesn't matter right now. All that matters is stopping them."

"Are you insane?" the Airbender replied, straining to keep his voice below a shout. "Going up against Amon and Azula would get you killed. I won't let you risk yourself like that again, Lin!"

"That's not your choice to make," the Chief of Police called back over her shoulder as she hurried to the nearest van, with Tenzin following close behind. "Every Metalbender in that building is in danger, and I'm not going to just roll over and let a pair of monsters murder my entire family."

"Are you even _listening to me_?" the Airbender said as the pair reached the van, enough force in his voice to pull Lin back thirty years into the past. There had been the same steel in his voice then, when he'd shown her his true strength for the first time.

She stopped in her tracks, turning to face him.

"You said yourself that Amon isn't holding back any more," Tenzin persisted, hoping to dissuade his oldest friend from doing something suicidal. "If you try to fight him, _he will kill you_. And if he doesn't, Azula will. She killed—"

"Temporarily."

"He carried that scar for the rest of his life." Tenzin's expression softened. Don't do this, Lin," he pleaded. "I can't lose you."

Her composure wavered for an instant, but the Chief of Police squashed her hesitation and gave the Airbender an unyielding stare.

"Go take care of your family, Tenzin," she said, "and let me take care of mine."

Lin got into the van and tore off down the road, leaving Tenzin standing in the street and fighting the very powerful desire to scream at the top of his lungs. He looked over at Oogi, and the Sky Bison gave him an impartial stare in return. But Tenzin could see the tension in the animal's muscles, and he shook his head.

"No," he said at last, sighing in defeat, "she's right. We can't go after her, Oogi." The faces of his children rushed to the front of his mind, putting the final nail in the coffin of Tenzin's resolve.

"It's not our place. Not anymore."

The Sky Bison lowed miserably, but the Airbender was resolute as he hopped up onto Oogi's back.

"Let's go home. Yip yip!"

The Sky Bison lifted off and flew towards the horizon, leaving Ichiro alone at last as the rest of the Metalbenders scrambled to accompany their leader. He frowned.

"Damn it," the Equalist bit out, angry that Amon's snare had only caught one of his prey. As he felt someone's eyes on him, Ichiro tensed and his frown deepened.

"Who had me tailed?"

"Elia," a smooth, female voice answered him as a newcomer slipped out from the shadows of a nearby alley. "Just in case you needed backup, though."

"I'm sure," Ichiro said dryly, turning to face his fellow Equalist as she walked up next to him. "She sends her right-hand just in case I need to be bailed out. Bullshit. She sent you to do my job for me."

The other Equalist shrugged, her deep brown eyes unreadable.

"Not like I needed to," she said. "That was a master-class in stalling, Ichiro."

"I do what I can," he shot back with a shrug. "How'd Hanzo look to you, after I left?"

"Fine. He realized what was going on, after Azula nudged him. Why'd you need to string him along like that, though? Getting into character is one thing, but that was just mean."

"It was necessary, Inara," Ichiro insisted. "I had to sell that defection as genuine. Besides, Hanzo'll get over it."

"I hope so," Inara said, concerned, before changing the topic. "Do you think the Airbender's actually going to stay out of this one?"

"He'd be smart to," Ichiro answered as the pair melted into the shadows of the alley. "But love doesn't usually make people smart."

* * *

…

…

**A/N:** Oh boy. This isn't going to end well, I don't think. But Korra will be entering the fray soon, so who knows. Only two more parts to go!

Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for sticking with this story as well; it means a ton. You all are the best.


	4. Ascension

**Players and Pawns  
**

**Chapter 4: **Ascension

* * *

"Something about this doesn't sit right with me, guys."

Sarrak kept his eyes on the road, but they narrowed in concern nonetheless.

"What is it?"

"I can't figure out _why_ Amon needs us to bail Hiroshi out of prison. He's not even in control of the company anymore; Asami is. What's the advantage for him here?"

The other two occupants in the vehicle were quiet for a moment as they considered Mira's doubts.

"Two reasons I can think of," Hanzo broached at last. "One, Amon wants to hold Hiroshi hostage and use him to control Asami. That, or he wants to send a message by targeting Tetsukabe."

"Or both," Sarrak said. "Either way, we have our orders. I'm just focusing on getting in and out of there alive."

"What he said," Hanzo agreed, watching from the back-seat as Mira put a reassuring hand on Sarrak's shoulder. He smiled, but the glint in his green eyes was bittersweet.

"We'll make it through this," Mira said with quiet conviction. "I know we will."

Sarrak chuckled.

"We always do somehow, don't we?" he glanced over at his girlfriend for a moment, smiling. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Mira replied, smiling in kind for a moment before sighing and shifting her eyes back to the road. Hanzo could tell from the way her posture suddenly relaxed that she was meditating; he doubted Mira would say anything else until they reached Tetsukabe.

Taking her cue, Hanzo closed his eyes and let himself drift into the dark space on the border between sleeping and wakefulness.

As soon as he found himself sitting on a bed in a small, but comfortable room, staring into a pair of icy blue eyes he would never forget, Hanzo realized that meditating had probably not been the best of ideas.

"Damn it."

The girl across from him arched an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth quirking into something that wasn't quite a frown.

"That's not what I was expecting," she said, before narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Hanzo. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"I would be," the swordsman answered heavily, "but you're not actually _you_, Kiana. That's a pretty big buzzkill."

The girl laughed, and the sight of her smooth, brown skin creasing into that wide smile of hers made something in Hanzo's chest lurch.

"So, your subconscious pulls up your image of me, to make what could be your last couple of minutes alive at least a little pleasant… and you _still_ manage to be a grouch about it. Classic, Hanzo."

"Is seeing you supposed to make me happy?" he shot back. "Last I checked, most people don't enjoy having their hearts torn out of their chests once, let alone twice."

Kiana's smile faded, but her eyes were still bright with teasing. Hanzo found himself torn between wanting to scream, cry and laugh, but he couldn't find the energy to do any of those.

"You certainly seem to enjoy it on some level," the Water Tribe girl said, "or we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Hanzo sighed, looking down at his lap.

"I shouldn't have let you go," he said. "It was—"

"It was my choice," Kiana cut him off, reaching over and putting a hand underneath his chin, ever so gently, tilting his head back up to look at her. "We both knew what that life was, Hanzo. Sooner or later, a job always goes south."

"But not yours," Hanzo said, feeling the corners of his eyes burning with the beginnings of tears. "Yours never did. You always came back."

"And I'm sorry I let you believe that was a rule, and not an exception," Kiana said softly, shifting her hand to wipe away a tear. The metal of the simple silver ring on her finger was a cool shock against Hanzo's skin, and he shuddered repressing a sob. Kiana drew him into an embrace, and he did nothing to fight it.

"Just let it go," she whispered, her warmth so comforting it was painful. "Let it go."

And he did.

He cried, remembering the parents whose faces he barely knew. He cried, feeling deep aches in the scars his training had given him. He cried, seeing the faces of each and every target he had brought down in the name of his shadowy employers.

And he cried for the phantasm of the girl who now held him in her arms, his regret choking him even as he took in ragged gasps of breath. He cried for all the things he had left unsaid between them, until he had no more tears to shed.

"Forgive me," he said at last, finally moving back enough to look Kiana in the eye again. She smiled.

"What do I need to forgive you for?" she asked. "If anything, I should be thanking you."

"Don't," Hanzo broke in, knowing what she would say and dreading it.

"I want you to hear this. Those years we had together… no one had ever treated me like that before. Don't you understand how much that meant?"

"Perfectly," he said hollowly, watching as Kiana took the silver ring from her finger.

"Looks like it's your turn," she said, handing it to him with a smile. "You know the drill."

"Of course," Hanzo replied, letting out one last sigh. "I'll see you later, Kiana."

"That's the spirit," she said brightly. "I'll be waiting."

As he let his eyes close again, the swordsman felt the space within his mind drift away.

"Hanzo? You all right, man?"

He let his eyes open again slowly, to see Sarrak looking at him with concern. Mira was watching him as well, her eye widened in surprise.

"Yeah," he said after a moment, glad that he didn't sound like he'd just sobbed for a few minutes straight. "Why?"

"You're crying," Mira answered.

I'm not—" Hanzo began to deny, before he felt the drop moving down his cheek. Flicking it away, he shook his head. "It's nothing," he said. "I'm fine. Are we there?"

"Yeah," Sarrak said, "and it looks like the outer ring of security's been relocated. Amon and Azula must be stirring up one major mess back at the headquarters."

"Good for us, then," Hanzo said, before opening his door and getting out of the car as the other two Equalists followed suit. "Let's do this."

The trio grabbed their respective weapons from the trunk and began the walk to the high wall surrounding Tetsukabe prison, Mira carrying a large bag on her back as well.

"So, once we get in and find Sato," she said, "do we have a plan for getting back out?"

"Same way we got in," Sarrak replied. "Take out anyone who tries to stop us. Hopefully, most of the guards will be recalled to the headquarters, and they'll call an emergency lockdown to hold over until they stop Amon. We should be able to get past a door, no problem."

"Looks like they already did that, though," Hanzo broke in. "No guards on the perimeter means no prisoners in the yards, and that means lockdown."

"Wonderful," Sarrak said dryly, looking up at the high stone walls that were now close enough to completely shadow them. "So much for going in through the front door. We'd be swarmed in no time flat."

"Wait, that was your plan?" Mira asked, mildly incredulous. "I thought you wanted this to be sneaky."

"I had it figured out," Sarrak said, ruffled. "We were going to claim to be visiting Sato, break him out and run for the exit. But they don't let anyone in during a lockdown who isn't wearing a uniform."

"It's a good thing I'm here, then," Mira spoke slyly, pulling a weighted arrow out of her quiver that had a hook-shaped head. She reached into the bag she'd brought along and pulled out a long length of rope. Attaching it to the end of the arrow, she notched it and aimed for the top of the wall. Letting the arrow fly with a clear _twang_, the projectile soared up and dug itself into the top of the wall.

"What would you boys ever do without me?" she asked, smiling as Sarrak stared at her and Hanzo whistled appreciatively.

"Nice work," her boyfriend said at last, before motioning for Mira to take point. "Ladies first."

The three of them made their way to the top of the wall, looking down at the yards and seeing that they were, in fact, empty. Moving quickly along the top of the wall, Sarrak knocked on the door of the nearest guard tower.

"What is it?" a gruff voice replied from within. "You know we're locked down, right?"

"Yeah," Sarrak said, "of course. I'm here for a shift change; they need you back inside."

The door opened a few seconds later, and Mira buried an arrow in the officer's throat. Hanzo and Sarrak stepped over the soon-to-be corpse, while Mira tarried just long enough to pull her arrow back out of the wound it had made and wipe it clean. Lifting up the hatch in the floor, the three Equalists hurried down the stairs and to the hollowed out area at the base of the wall. They passed by every door whose looking-slat revealed Metalbenders, finally stopping in front of one that showed the coast as clear.

"Ready?" Sarrak asked tensely, and his companions nodded. He pulled the door open and they moved into the hallway, walking with silent steps along the curving corridor. It was only a few minutes before they came within sight of a Metalbender walking ahead of them, and Sarrak took point. Quickening his pace, he got behind the officer and drew his long hunting knife, placing it against the hollow of the Metalbender's throat.

"Don't move." He whispered, holding the blade right on his captive's jugular. "Hiroshi Sato. Where is he?"

"Sato's dead," the officer rasped, careful not to move the muscles in his neck too far. "Got killed in a fight over some food. Served the idiot right, if you ask me. Damn Equalist."

"Just a suggestion," Sarrak said with smooth menace, pressing the steel close enough to draw a drop of blood. "You might not want to lie to the guy holding your life in his hands, for one. Talking shit about his friends is also not a good way to lengthen your lifespan."

"I'm telling you the truth," the officer said. "You want to see his body? I'll take you there."

"No thanks," Hanzo broke in. "We weren't born yesterday, buddy. Tell us where he is, and we'll handle it."

"Fuck you," the officer spat, before the trio heard the thin, metallic sound of a pin being pulled. Sarrak's eyes widened in horror as he looked down and saw the Metalbender had activated a grenade at his waist.

"Move!" he shouted, quickly dragging the blade of his knife across the officer's throat in revenge before throwing his body down and running forward. Mira and Hanzo followed, and the three of them had just barely made it clear of the blast radius before the grenade exploded with a _bang_. The resulting debris blocked the shrapnel, but the shockwave from the explosion was enough to throw them all onto the ground. The sound of the alarm klaxon tore through the air, and the Equalists felt their stomachs sinking.

The way back was blocked by a wall of rubble, and for all they knew, a small army of Metalbenders was amassing ahead of them. As the sound of boots slamming against stone in rapid _clops_ reached their ears, they drew their respective weapons and waited.

"Gotta say," Hanzo mused, "this wasn't quite how I imagined going out."

"It won't be," Mira assured him, pulling her bow's string taut. As soon as the first Metalbender appeared in front of them, the bow sang and the arrow shot forward with a screaming whistle, ending in a kill-shot through the eye.

Nine more Metalbenders rushed forward in the wake of their fallen partner, and Hanzo and Sarrak charged to meet them.

"I'll go left," Hanzo said, "you take the right?"

Sarrak smiled, his expression almost feral.

"Sounds good."

They both jumped at the same time, avoiding a bunch of cables that were spat out towards them and sunk their grapples into the stone floor. Sarrak threw two knives before he hit the ground, bringing an officer down. Hanzo alighted on one of the cables and ran along it, following it back to its source before drawing one of his _katana_ and decapitating the Metalbender in a single smooth motion. Mira launched another arrow and a fourth Metalbender hit the ground lifeless, bringing the odds a little closer to even.

The surviving officers decided to change their tactics. A coordinated barrage of Earthbending turned the stable floor underneath the Equalists into a choppy, uneven mess of stone protrusions and gravel sinks.

One of the improvised stalactites slammed hard into Sarrak's leg, dropping him. Mira felt her gut clench, but forced her hand steady and channeled her anger into her arms. Two arrows flew with deadly accuracy, providing her boyfriend with enough time to get back on his feet.

Hanzo rushed forward to engage the surviving three Metalbenders by himself, drawing his second _katana_ as he spun to avoid the sudden appearance of a stone pillar right in front of him. Dropping into a slide, Hanzo passed through the gap in the closest officer's legs and sliced both of their hamstrings, bringing them to their knees. A _katana_ was arcing through the air as soon as Hanzo had gotten back on his feet, and the steel bit fatally into the Metalbender's unprotected neck.

"Never did figure out why you don't wear full armor," he said as he turned his attention to the remaining pair of officers. They were quick to launch a hail of stone spikes at Hanzo, and the close range made dodging them nearly impossible.

A quick succession of three managed to hit him: one cut into his side, another slammed into his gut and the final one hit his left shoulder so hard he dropped the sword that hand was holding.

"We could ask you the same thing," one of the Metalbenders said spitefully, moving to deliver the finishing blow as Hanzo staggered backwards. He was cut short as a knife plunged into his throat, blood trickling from his lips rather than words. A quick glance in the direction of the attack earned the final officer an arrow through the skull.

Hanzo exhaled in relief, before grimacing hard in pain.

"Thanks for the save," he grit out as Mira collected her arrows and Sarrak picked up his knife, making sure their final target was dead.

"Sorry about that," Sarrak apologized. "We had our hands full."

"You okay?" Mira asked, drawing a stare out of Hanzo.

"Do I look like it to you?" he gripped his injured shoulder, choking back a snarl. "It's dislocated."

"I'm more worried about that," Sarrak said, pointing to the gash in his friend's side. Hanzo shrugged.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he replied dismissively. "Help me get this thing back in place, and let's go."

Sarrak hurried over to Hanzo's side and took hold of his shoulder, doing a quick three-count before wrenching the bone back into its socket. Hanzo made a noise that didn't sound entirely human before calming back down, drawing in deep breaths.

"Okay," he said after a few moments, "I'm good."

"We need to get into the actual complex," Mira spoke up. "If we can find a manifest, we can figure out where Sato's cell is. And where they put the dead bodies, if that one guy was telling the truth after all."

"Works for me," Sarrak agreed, kneeling for a moment to detach a ring of keys from the waist of a dead Metalbender before moving ahead.

The rest of the corridor was mercifully unpopulated, and it only took the trio a little over a minute to find a large door leading further into the complex. Working his way through the key ring, Sarrak found the one that fit the lock and opened the door slowly. Once he'd seen the hallway was completely devoid of Metalbenders, he gave Mira and Hanzo the all-clear.

They stopped at the first cell they came to, one that housed a thin slip of a man with long, ragged hair and hollow, pale eyes set in a sallow face.

"We need to know where Hiroshi Sato's being held," Sarrak said, holding up the key ring. "Tell us, and I'll spring you."

"Sato?" the man echoed, his voice as frail as his appearance. "You won't find him breathing, friend. Got a little too far on Konokiri's bad side, and that was the story of 'im."

"Shit," Mira hissed as Sarrak unlocked the prisoner's cell. "What do we do now? Still want to look for some proof?"

"I wouldn't concern yourself with the dead, my dear, were I you," the freed prisoner said, pointing at Hanzo. "Mind the dying instead, it's more productive."

Hanzo was clutching his side, and it was easy to see that the dark red blood had spread too far from his wound for comfort.

"Not as bad as it looks, huh?" Sarrak said cuttingly, quickly tearing off one of his sleeves and moving over to his friend's side. "Hanzo, you're an idiot."

The wounded swordsman smiled, the color slowly draining from his face.

"You're just figuring that out now?" he asked. "I think that makes you the idiot."

"Stop talking!" Sarrak seethed as he used the torn fabric to bind the wound, tight enough to at least slow the bleeding for now. He stepped back and sighed.

"Screw finding proof. Amon trusts us enough to take us at our word, and right now we need to get Hanzo to a hospital. Where's the nearest exit?" he asked the freed convict, earning a point down the hallway in return.

"The prison's hospital is up three floors from here," the man said. "Leave, and it'll be a couple miles before the first civilian one."

Sarrak felt a cold weight settle over him, and he knew from one glance back at Hanzo that his friend had come to the same conclusion.

"Just go," Hanzo said, his voice determined even as it began to strain. "Get out of here and call up the boss. Tell him what happened."

"But—" Mira started to protest, only to be cut short by a hard glare.

"If we went up there," Hanzo told her, "even if I did get patched up, not all three of us would make it out. I'm not gonna make you put yourselves on the line for me, got it?"

Sarrak nodded grimly, before moving forward and embracing his friend.

"Take care of her, all right?" Hanzo whispered to him. "I want you two to walk away from this. Promise me that."

"We will," Sarrak said solemnly. "I swear. Sorry I wasn't quick enough on the draw."

"Don't worry about it," his friend said with a weak laugh. "If I had to go, there's no one I'd rather've been with right now than you two."

Hanzo groaned, and Sarrak backed away slightly before lowering the wounded swordsman gently down to the ground.

"Feels funny," Hanzo mused, his voice parchment-thin. "Doesn't hurt so much now, though. I wonder…" he took a breath, his green eyes beginning to close. "I wonder if she'll be waiting for me…"

A ghost of a sigh followed his final word, and Hanzo's eyes went dark.

Sarrak knelt down and closed them the rest of the way, unhooking the _katana_ at his hip and fastening them to his own instead.

"I'll keep these safe for you," he said, while Mira uttered a short prayer to the Spirits on behalf of the departed.

The two Equalists hurried down the hall, sliding to a sharp halt as they caught sight of a phone sitting behind a nearby desk.

"Call the station," Mira said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Amon and Azula should have taken it over by now, and I don't think they'd go anywhere else."

Sarrak nodded, picking up the receiver and dialing the station's number.

"_Hello?"_ a panicked voice shouted on the other end. _"Help! Help us! We ne—gah!"_

The line went silent for a moment, before a new voice spoke up.

"I wouldn't recommend sending any more Metalbenders," Amon said smoothly, "unless you want them to meet the same end as him."

"It's Sarrak," he said.

"Oh? How fares our friend?"

"He's dead." Sarrak paused. "So is Hanzo."

"Then it appears we must change our plans," Amon replied, not missing a beat. "The two of you get out of there, and go to Future Industries' headquarters. Find Asami Sato, and bring her down to the station."

Sarrak almost choked on his disbelief.

"We would need a fair amount of backup for that, Sir," he said. "Where should we wait for reinforcements?"

"There won't be any reinforcements," Amon answered coldly. "All of our forces are here at the station, to hold against any action by the United Forces. The pair of you should suffice for this, as long as you remain cautious."

"I appreciate your faith, Sir," Sarrak said, struggling to keep his increasing hatred out of his voice. "We'll let you know as soon as we have Sato."

"Good."

The line went dead, and Sarrak slammed the receiver down back into its cradle.

"That bastard," he hissed, drawing an arched eyebrow from Mira.

"What did he say?"

"He wants us to go raid Future Industries' headquarters, and kidnap Asami Sato. With no backup."

"That's insane!"

"And that's an understatement," Sarrak said darkly. "He didn't even say a word about Hanzo, when I told him."

Mira said nothing for a moment, letting her boyfriend calm down.

"Do you think we can pull this off?"

Sarrak shook his head.

"Fuck no," he answered. "Twenty-plus floors, manned by privately contracted security? We'd have less than no chance.

"We're leaving."

Mira waited for him to continue, growing more and more puzzled with each passing beat.

"Pardon?"

"I said, we're leaving," he repeated. "Getting away from all of this. I'm not going on two missions like this in one day. Not for Amon's sake."

"We made a promise to him, Sarrak."

"No, we made a promise to the cause he happens to lead," he countered. "I swore an oath to him, but I also swore one to you, and one to Hanzo. Those matter more to me. _You_ matter more to me."

Mira nodded, but her eye remained narrowed.

"You do realize we'd be living on the lam for the rest of our lives, right? Amon doesn't seem like he'd be very forgiving of treason."

"We can hide from him," Sarrak assured her. "Besides, if everything goes according to his plan," he finished, "Amon is going to have his hands full very soon."

Mira nodded again, stopping short as her eyes caught sight of Hanzo's _katana_.

All that was left of him.

"I love you," she said, embracing her boyfriend. Sarrak smiled against her shoulder.

"Love you, too," he said warmly, holding her for a few more heartbeats before stepping back. His eyes were as focused as Mira had ever seen them.

"Let's go."

* * *

Azula glanced over as Amon hung up the phone, forcing away her irritation at the fact that he was now wearing a mask. It made him much harder to read, and that was one advantage the princess was not accustomed to being deprived of.

"Do you honestly think they're going to follow your orders?"

"Whether they do or not is of no concern to me," the Bloodbender replied calmly. "If they try and succeed, my plan moves forward that much more quickly. If they try and fail, I've only lost two soldiers in the attempt. And if they turn tail and run, I'll simply take care of Asami later myself."

Azula nodded, admiring her partner's pragmatism at the same time it put her on edge. She'd been watching him closely as they had launched their assault on the station, and his style of combat was just as ruthless and uncompromising as hers.

"I'm going to go meditate," she said, rising from her chair. "I'll let you know if we have any more orders from up on high."

"Fine," Amon replied. "I'll keep an eye on our guest of honor," he finished, and the woman sitting in the nearby cell glared daggers at the Bloodbender.

"You won't be able to defeat the Avatar," Lin said defiantly. "And even if you do, by some stroke of luck, you'll still be doomed. The United Forces has an army much bigger than yours."

"Says the woman who just watched me murder her entire elite guard, lost her Bending to me a second time, and then sat helplessly while we massacred your reinforcements. Threats have more bite when you can back them up, Bei Fong."

Azula left the room, a muffled shout from Lin following her for a moment before fading away behind her. She walked into an empty room that had once been a common room for officers relaxing off-duty, making her way to the center of it before sitting down on the floor. Azula let her eyes close and exhaled slowly, allowing her consciousness to expand as it slipped into the place between waking and sleep.

"Good afternoon, Princess."

Azula's eyes opened again as she frowned, looking suspiciously at the man who was sitting across from her on the other side of a small table. A pair of tea cups sat on it, accompanied by a steaming pot.

"You," she said as she picked up the cup closest to her, "aren't the one I was expecting."

"Yes, I'm quite certain of that," the man replied, his eyes a pair of completely coal-black spheres. They stared at Azula as if to peer into her soul, and it was only years of practice that kept her shiver at bay. "But Koh is busy at the moment, and you and I need to talk."

"We do?" the princess asked, before pausing to take a sip of her tea. "But what could I possibly tell you that you don't already know?"

"I may know ten thousand things," the Spirit answered, his eyes thoroughly unreadable, "but the justification for an act of monumental stupidity is something I prefer not to study."

Azula smiled into her cup as she took another sip, studying the human face of the Knowledge Spirit. His muscles were calm, untroubled by the little tics she usually noticed whenever he was angry. Was this an embassy, then? Not likely; he wasn't the kind of Spirit to move openly against Koh.

"Why should you care what my reasons are for following the Face Stealer?"

"I don't. What I wonder is why the Bloodbender is still breathing. Don't tell me you've lost your touch," he finished, his owlish eyes glinting with mocking laughter.

"I need him to finish this."

"So now you're doubting yourself? Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

Azula's smile didn't waver.

"Are you worried about my safety, Wan? How unlike you. Unless," she continued, her smile curving into a smirk, "this is jealousy I'm hearing."

"You know I'm above such paltry emotions, Azula," the Spirit countered. "What you also know is that this path of yours only has one end."

"You think he can kill me?"

His eyes narrowed, and Azula couldn't contain her shiver this time.

"I know he can. As do you."

"He can be controlled."

"And now you're just in denial," the Knowledge Spirit said scathingly, putting his cup of tea back down on the table with a soft _clack_. "Noatak knows you would never share a throne, nor would you be satisfied with being second best. Sooner or later, you would clash. He will seek to eliminate that eventuality entirely, as anyone with half a brain would choose to do."

Azula ignored the jab, masking her slowly rising worry with another sip of tea.

"What does it matter if I die here, though?" she asked. "I'll just get sent back to the Spirit World. And as long as the Avatar Cycle is ended, Koh will have no grudge to bear against me."

Wan Shi Tong gave the princess a sad smile.

"Not him, no," he allowed, "but everyone who has ever borne the mantle of the Avatar will. I can imagine they would be quite furious with having their powers all but stripped from them, and the target of that fury would suffer painfully indeed."

"I can deal with them."

"Your confidence is admirable, as always," the Spirit said, "but brash. Not even I could shield you from that many incarnations, Azula."

The princess frowned at the words, and at the bitterness that accompanied the end of her cup.

"You owe me a rather large debt, Wan."

"True," he said, "but not one _that_ large."

Azula sighed, knowing that her erstwhile ally was right but hating to admit it, even to herself.

"Then what would you suggest I do?"

The Knowledge Spirit smiled. Whether it was out of satisfaction over an argument won, or genuine happiness at her seeing his reason, Azula couldn't tell. His face may have been human, but his absolute control over his state of mind was something beyond that.

"I would suggest," he said, "that you wait for an opening when Noatak is dueling with Korra. Kill him then, and make your peace with the Avatar."

"Which could very well work," Azula replied. "But you seem to be forgetting about the part where Koh damns my soul to eternal torture for failing him."

"Is that any worse than having Kyoshi slowly shred your soul to pieces until you go insane, begging for a death that she will never let come?"

Azula kept a growl confined to her throat, rising to her feet and looking down at her companion.

"As much as I enjoy these games of ours," she said, "right now I need a straight answer. Are you saying you'll keep Koh off my back, Wan?"

"If you spare the Avatar's life," he replied, rising to his feet and looking Azula in the eye, "that will be the least I could do for you."

"Why do you care so much about saving the life of an impudent, headstrong brat?"

The Spirit smirked.

"Now who's the jealous one?"

"Tell me."

The expression on Wan Shi Tong's slender face calmed, and his eyes took on the barest hint of earnestness.

"Because she deserves the chance to become something more than that," he said. "Much like a certain someone I found out on the plains of my territory, half-mad with fear and rage and roving about like a rabid animal."

Azula sighed again, feeling shame crush down over her at the memory she would have liked to forget completely.

"Fine," she said at last, "I'll consider it. But if you don't come through on your end…"

"Have I ever not?"

"Have you ever gone up against Koh before?"

The Spirit laughed.

"There are many things you don't know about me, Azula. Get through this, and perhaps that list will shorten some."

Wan Shi Tong turned away, running a hand through his shoulder-length dark hair in a gesture that reminded Azula of preening.

"Farewell, Princess," he said as the room around them began to quiver and fade away. "Good luck."

Wan Shi Tong opened his eyes, taking in a calming breath as he settled back into his own skin. The transition from the between-space back into the Spirit World wasn't taxing for him at this point, but it still felt odd, even now.

The Spirit sensed someone nearby, and chuckled.

"What do you want, apostate?"

The cloaked and hooded messenger's frown could be heard in his reply.

"I have a name."

"I am aware," the Spirit replied, an edge of disdain to his voice. "But that label suits you far better."

"You say that like I sacrificed my beliefs on a whim," Saiun shot back, his voice turning hard. "Like I wanted to perform that duty."

"There were other ways you could have dealt with it."

"And I tried all of them," the messenger replied, an undercurrent of anguish in his voice. "Don't even try to pretend that you can empathize with what I went through, Spirit. Out of all the things you know, what it feels like to lose your family isn't one of them."

Wan Shi Tong said nothing, letting the thread of conversation be cut by the ensuing silence.

"You still haven't answered my question," he rejoined after a few moments. "What do you want? Has your master sent his loyal dog on another errand?"

"Koh doesn't know I'm here."

"He doesn't, does he?" Wan Shi Tong asked, finally turning to face the messenger. "How very interesting indeed. Trouble in paradise, after all these years?"

"If anyone is to blame for that," Saiun answered, "it's you. With Azula compromised, this scheme's chances of success decrease far too much for my liking."

"And you're worried you won't be spared from the backlash, I take it?"

The messenger chuckled bitterly.

"My master isn't known for his capacity to forgive," he said, " and I'm already on the kill list for breaking the laws of reincarnation."

"Poor little you," Wan Shi Tong replied, clicking his beak in scorn. "You made that decision, and now you have to deal with the consequences."

"I intend to, believe me," Saiun said sharply, drawing a frown from the Knowledge Spirit.

"_Without_ my assistance."

The messenger scoffed.

"So you'll stick your neck out for Azula, but not for me? We're both doing you the same favor."

Wan Shi Tong's eyes narrowed.

"I never said I was sticking my neck out for anyone, apostate. I rather like it right where it is."

Saiun fell quiet for a few long moments, and when he spoke again his voice was scathing.

"You're a rotten bastard," he said. "She deserves better than being conned like this."

Wan Shi Tong turned sharply, beating his wings once in anger. The force of the gale was enough to blow back Saiun's hood, revealing his face. Black hair hung slightly down over his forehead, almost covering the tattoo of a blue arrow that stopped right above the bridge of his nose. His steel-gray eyes narrowed, hardened by millennia of grief.

"Bite your tongue, boy," Wan Shi Tong said lowly, "before I rip it out of you. If you care so much about Azula, go and save her. We all know how well that worked out for you last time."

"Don't," Saiun grit out, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword.

"Or what? You'll kill me? With that little piece of steel? Ridiculous."

The messenger slackened the grip on his weapon, but he refused to give Wan Shi Tong any ground.

"If you think this is going to convince Koh to give up," he said, "it won't. Once he knows you've actively intervened, it will mean all-out war."

The Knowledge Spirit chuckled.

"Him and what army?" he asked dismissively. "We have every incarnation of the Avatar on our side."

"Not all of them, you don't," Saiun reminded the Spirit, "and Koh has more allies than you want to admit."

"Are you threatening me?"

Saiun shook his head.

"No, I'm not. I'm done having a stake in your petty feuds."

"You make cowardice sound so noble, ronin," Wan Shi Tong said harshly. "When you come crawling back to me on your hands and knees, I'm going to enjoy it."

"I'm sure you would," Saiun said as he turned and began to walk away, raising his hood back up over his head. "But I wouldn't hold your breath for it."

Wan Shi Tong let the fallen Airbender go unimpeded, spreading his massive wings and taking flight as soon as Saiun was out of sight.

He had work to do.

* * *

Tenzin had hoped, rather foolishly in hindsight, that his conversation with Korra would go smoothly. That she would listen to his reasoning calmly, with a clear head, and understand that the best course of action for her to take was to stay completely out of Amon's way.

"And you just _let her go_? Are you serious? She could die!"

So much for that.

"Do you think I don't know that, Korra?" the Airbender said, struggling to keep his frustration out of his voice. "I tried to stop her, but I couldn't. I didn't want her to do what she did, but Lin has a habit of being incredibly stubborn when it comes to protecting the people she cares about."

"And that's not a bad thing," the Avatar replied, her eyes burning with intensity. "The least we can do for her is return the favor!"

"Do that, and you'd be playing right into Amon's hands," Tenzin countered. "He _wants_ to fight you. At best, you kill him and make him a martyr. At worst, he kills you and ends the Avatar Cycle completely."

"I'll take my chances," Korra said. "It's not like he has much support anymore, anyway. He can't be a martyr without a following."

"The Equalist movement didn't die with him. If it had, he wouldn't have been able to call together enough backup to hold the police station."

"So, what exactly are you suggesting? That I just sit here, and wait for Amon to come and find me himself? I'm not running from him again. The people need their Avatar to protect them, and that's what I plan on doing."

Tenzin sighed, feeling the weight of his failure as a teacher bearing down on his shoulders.

"I'm not saying you should let him run amok. All I'm saying is that you should pick your battles. Wait until he's gotten overconfident, and then act."

"He's not going to get overconfident. He's a crazy Bloodbender! I'm the only one who can deal with him, and nothing you say will change that."

Tenzin was about to reply, before a familiar voice preempted him.

"You won't have to handle this one alone, Avatar Korra."

The Airbender and his student turned to see General Iroh standing there, accompanied by a small cadre of soldiers and an embarrassed Pema.

"Sorry, dear," she apologized. "They wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

"I can't imagine they would," Tenzin said lowly, before giving his unexpected guest a formal bow. "General Iroh."

"Master Tenzin," he replied, returning the courtesy. "What would you say to helping us stop this lunatic?"

"Have you heard the whole situation?" he asked back, and Iroh nodded.

"The police at the station managed to relay it to me shortly before the takeover."

"Then you know Amon isn't acting alone."

The general remained undaunted.

"If my grandfather could stop her," he said, "I know I can."

"The circumstances of that Agni Kai were quite out of the ordinary."

Iroh's cheek twitched in controlled irritation, and Korra stepped in before the two men started a full-blown argument.

"Look, Tenzin," she said bluntly, "I get that you're worried about me, and I appreciate it. But this is my job. It's what the Avatar exists to do. I have to go. You stay here and keep Pema and the kids safe."

Tenzin shook his head firmly, locking eyes with his student.

"If you're certain about going, I'm not going to let you face them without my help."

"I don't have a wife and kids, Master," Korra said. "You do, and they need you here. I'll be back before you know it; I promise."

The Avatar turned to leave with Iroh, and Tenzin didn't make to follow or stop her.

"Just be careful," he called after Korra. "And whatever you do, don't go into the Avatar State!"

"I won't!" Korra called back without turning around, walking in silence for a few more minutes before turning to the general.

"So," she said, as confidently as she could, "how bad is it?"

"Let's just say that if I tried to make the situation as terrible as I could imagine, it still wouldn't be quite this bad."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"But between your Bending and my soldiers, I don't think it'll be a problem," Iroh assured her with a smile. "Amon might be powerful, but even he can only Bloodbend so many people at a time. We should be able to win this through numbers alone, as long as I can take care of Azula."

"Then she really is back?" Korra asked, and Iroh nodded. "Shouldn't that be impossible, though?"

"I wish I knew," he said. "I'd like to say 'yes', but the Spirits have done some pretty crazy things in the past."

Korra found the idea that not every Spirit was on her side to be profoundly unsettling, and she didn't say another word as the troops made their way to a group of armored soldier transports. Once they were all inside the vehicles, Iroh picked up the radio transmitter and issued his command orders.

"We're going to ditch these a short distance outside of the station, and then go the rest of the way on foot. If we can surprise Amon, we might be able to bring him down before he can Bloodbend too many of us. We'll move in two units; I'll take one, and Lee, you take the other. Half and half. Stay sharp."

Iroh put the transmitter down, taking a calming breath as he slipped into a soldier's mindset. He looked over at Korra a few moments later, and she seemed equally focused.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," the Avatar answered. The transports slowed to a stop, and she opened the door. "Let's do this."

Korra had only been outside of the transport for a few seconds when she heard an odd, loud _thud_. Looking up towards the direction of the sound, her eyes widened at the sight of a rocket rushing through the air towards her.

"Ambush!" she shouted, pushing back against the explosive with a strong gust of air. It succeeded in knocking the rocket off-course, but as Korra hurriedly looked around to try and see where the attack had come from, she was distracted by the soft metallic _clink_ of something rolling along the ground.

She saw the flash-bang charge a second before it went off, engulfing her world in bright white light and thoroughly disorienting ringing. The heat and shockwave from another explosion sent her flying, slamming her head against the hard ground. It hurt, but the pain had the unexpected effect of clearing away the flash-bang's disorientation.

The Avatar looked around again and saw that most of Iroh's troops had either been blasted or beaten into submission; a swarm of _chi_-blockers had moved in to keep up the pressure once the artillery had stopped. General Iroh himself was fighting tenaciously, sending arcs and bursts of flame shooting out of his fists and feet with terrifying speed and power even injured as he was.

Rising to her feet, Korra joined the fray and attacked with all of her might. Channeling her anger through her fists, she shot spikes of earth and blasts of fire at the Equalists all around her. They tried their best to avoid them, but Korra's relentless assault caught up to their acrobatics before too long. Those who tried to go in for hand-to-hand combat received broken limbs or worse for their trouble, as the Avatar dodged their now-predictable strikes and countered ruthlessly. The United Forces troops could feel the tide turning, and their fighting spirit increased with their morale. It wasn't much longer before every Equalist in the ambush party had been knocked out or killed, but Iroh frowned as he saw how many comrades he'd lost in the skirmish.

"We need to keep moving," he said. "Hopefully, none of those Equalists radioed our position back to Amon. We could still get the drop on hi—"

Iroh's words were cut short by the sound of a lightning bolt ripping through the air. It slammed into his side a second later, throwing him from his feet, and Korra quickly raised a barrier of soft earth to cushion his fall. But before the general had even landed there was a loud _whoosh_ from nearby, followed closely by a searing burst of heat as blue flames rushed overhead. Azula snatched Iroh clean out of the air and kept on flying without even slowing down, leaving the United Forces soldiers without their commander.

Azula didn't touch back down until she was certain she'd left the Equalists behind her, being careful to lay her unconscious relative down gently as she did so. It took him a few minutes to awaken, and he immediately clutched his side as pain rushed through his nerves.

"Don't worry," the princess said, "it wasn't a serious shot. You'll be fine; I made sure of that."

She watched as Iroh's eyes widened in shocked recognition before narrowing in anger, smiling in anticipation as he tried to Firebend and failed. The general crumpled to his knees, pain overpowering his resolve.

"We're on the same side, nephew."

Iroh gave a bitter laugh.

"You expect me to trust you, after that?"

"I expect you to realize that if I'd wanted you dead, I would have shot you clean through the heart," Azula countered dryly. "Now sit down, be quiet and listen. I have a very important job for you."

* * *

Korra stood outside the police station alone, her body cut and bruised and bleeding. She was breathing hard, but the determination in her eyes remained unwavering.

"Amon! Get out here and let's finish this!"

The Avatar's challenge went unanswered, and Korra felt her agitation rising higher and higher with each passing minute she waited for her nemesis to show himself. She knew it was a bad idea to go into a confined space to fight Amon; she'd made that mistake once before and wasn't eager to go for a repeat.

But she wasn't being given much choice, and she'd come too far to stop now. Too many lives had been lost to make it here, and Korra knew that she owed it to those fallen soldiers to bring Amon down.

She strode confidently into the police station, forcing her stomach not to turn at the sight of the Metalbender corpses lying haphazardly strewn on the ground. Lin was nowhere to be seen among the dead, which gave Korra a small spark of hope. She kept on moving, making her way towards the cell block. If the Chief was being kept under guard, no doubt that was where Amon would have put her.

The rest of the way to the cells was completely deserted, leading the Avatar to wonder if Amon really thought she was stupid enough to drop her guard just because there was no visible danger. She looked into each cell as she passed it, hoping to find Lin in one of them. When she finally did, the Chief was sitting on a small cot looking dejectedly at the floor.

"You okay?"

Lin's head snapped up at the sound of Korra's voice, and her pale green eyes went wide.

"Korra? What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? I'm rescuing you, and then I'm gonna take down Amon."

"No!" Lin said, the vehemence in her voice causing the Avatar to take a few steps backwards. "You have to get out of here. Right now! Go!"

"I'm not running from that coward," Korra insisted, raising a spike of earth with a powerful gesture that bent and broke the metal bars of the cell door. "Come on; we can fight him together."

"I wish you would stop being so predictable, young Avatar," Amon's serpentine voice broke in as Korra found herself unable to move a muscle. "It really makes this whole thing a lot less interesting."

Korra fought back against the Bloodbending as hard as she could, but she still felt like invisible iron chains were coiled around her entire body. She heard Lin groan, and saw as she glanced over that the Chief had been hauled into the air.

"To be perfectly honest," Amon said calmly, "this bores me. I'm tired of wasting my time dealing with weaklings. So I'll make you a deal, Avatar. If you go into the Avatar State right now and fight me with all of your terrible strength, I won't snap Bei Fong's neck like a twig."

Korra grit her teeth, staring down the Bloodbender with pure hatred.

"You're bluffing," she said, and Amon's eyes narrowed.

"Am I?" he asked, before flexing his fingers sharply. There was a nauseating _crack_ as one of Lin's arms bent back the wrong way at the elbow, and the Metalbender screamed.

"You piece of shit!" Korra hissed. "This is between the two of us. Leave her alone!"

"Still think I'm bluffing?" Amon said coldly. "I'm going to count to three. Every number you delay, I'm going to break another one of her limbs. Are you fine with having that on your conscience, young Avatar?"

"You're a monster," Korra growled. "No one would ever follow you if they could see this."

"But they can't, can they?" Amon's satisfaction was palpable. "One."

_Crack_.

"Stop it!"

"That's entirely within your power. Just make me. Two."

_Crack._

Lin's shriek of pain cut clean through Korra, and she was on the brink of giving in to her anger when the Chief called out to her.

"Don't do it, Korra. I don't care if he kills me. The Avatar is far more important to this world than I am."

"But—"

"Three."

_Crack._

"Amon!" Korra shouted, pouring all of her anger and helplessness and self-loathing and fear and pain into the name of her enemy. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Not like that, you're not," he said dispassionately. "Her neck is next. Time to choose."

Tears of rage and grief were flowing freely down her face, and Korra could feel the primal urge to wreak punishment on Amon surging strongly within her. The Avatar State was begging to be released, and its gatekeeper was getting closer and closer to setting it loose.

"No?" the Bloodbender asked after a moment, sounding surprised. "Very well. On your head be it, Avatar."

Amon was about to flex his fingers again when a sudden blast of air knocked him off of his feet, sending him skidding along the ground. He quickly turned his momentum to his advantage, springing back up to his feet in a half-flip that just barely managed to avoid a searing blast of fire.

The Avatar roared, their eyes glowing pure blue as huge chunks of earth were ripped out of the ground and sent flying at Amon. He jumped and flipped off of them with practiced deftness, making sure he was constantly moving away from his opponent. As soon as the concrete wall of the station came falling down around him, the Bloodbender saw his opening and ran out into the street.

The Avatar pursued, blasting huge arcs of fire and ripping up massive chunks of the street to use as weapons against their prey. Amon pulled up the water that was coursing underground to act as a shield, covering his retreat as he moved further and further into the city, propelled by riding a large wave of water. He shifted his course towards Yue Bay, pulling up a large mass of water and sending it at the Avatar in the form of myriad ice spikes. The attack was little more than a diversion, but it gave Amon enough time to call another mass of water up and use it to prolong the wave he was riding.

"_STOP RUNNING!"_

The Avatar's shout resounded behind him, followed closely by another mixed volley of water, earth, fire and air. Amon dodged and weaved as quickly as he could, feeling his muscles burning with fatigue. But that didn't matter: he just had to hold out for another few blocks, and then he could get serious.

A few more blasts of fire sailed by the Bloodbender, each one of them more than enough to have incinerated him. They slammed into cars, apartments and office buildings, the resulting noise not quite enough to drown out the screams of terror and pain from the surrounding bystanders.

Amon smiled behind his mask. As City Hall finally came into view, his smile widened. Jumping down from his wave as soon as he was close enough, he ran into the large building just seconds before a huge chunk of earth slammed into the entrance's archway and shattered the stone.

The council members scrambled away from their seats at the table as soon as the impact occurred, only to freeze in fear a few moments later as they caught sight of Amon. The Bloodbender was irritated as he saw that Tenzin was absent, but he quickly pushed it out of his mind and secured his grip on the three present officials. He threw them through the air toward the Avatar, just in time to take the brunt of a fire blast and perish instantly. Amon was singed as he rolled to dodge, but his pain was immaterial.

The Avatar had just put the nail in their own coffin, whether they knew it or not.

Another roar split the air as it became apparent to the Avatar what had just happened, and for a moment Amon worried that it would be enough to shock Korra back to herself. But the moment passed, and the Avatar continued her assault. Amon continued to evade to the extent that he could, taking some of the water his enemy hurled at him and turning it into a fluid cyclone. It made dodging easier, but Amon knew he would have to go on the offensive sooner or later.

And as soon as he did that, he would be outmatched and obliterated.

Where was Azula?

The Avatar launched a volley of rock covered in fire and trailed by scalding steam, showing no signs of easing up on their brutal attack. Amon evaded all but the last one, which slammed hard into a hastily-made ice shield and sent him flying. He could tell that a few of his ribs had been instantaneously cracked by the force of the blow, but his barrier had kept him alive. He rose to his feet, readying himself as the Avatar stared down at him in fury.

The sound of lightning being forced into existence suddenly reached his ears, and Amon urged his muscles to roll away from the blast.

Except he found, to his surprise, that he was unable to move. The Avatar had raised stone cuffs up from the ground to lock his feet in place, leaving the Bloodbender helpless as the lightning hit him right in the heart.

Amon slumped to the ground, unmoving, as his uniform caught on fire and began to burn around him.

"Well," Azula said with satisfaction, "that was pretty much the exact opposite of how I'd originally planned it."

The Avatar whirled to face the newcomers, readying another attack.

"What are you waiting for, Iroh?" Azula snapped at her nephew, a heartbeat before she was forced to leap and propel herself away from a crashing wave. "Calm her down!"

"Korra!" Iroh shouted over the gale of cutting wind that the Avatar sent screaming towards Azula, the attack powerful enough to cut through flesh. "Stop! She's a friend!"

"I don't think that's going to work, you idiot!" the princess called back. "I doubt the Avatar considers someone who killed them a 'friend'! Just—" Azula cut herself off, launching a blast of blue flame up to cancel out an orange torrent of fire. Another blue blast followed on its heels, this one vaporizing a spear of ice.

"Just knock her out, damn you!"

Iroh heard the words and called a ball of fire to his hand, but hesitated as he looked up at his friend.

"_Iroh!"_

Azula shouted in pained urgency as a hail of stone rained down on her, breaking her right arm and taking her concentration with it. Her nephew's hesitation snapped and he attacked, but not before the Avatar had sent a crescent wave of water slicing through the air at a terrifying speed.

Azula could see the blade of air shimmering along its edge, and knew she was staring at her death. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head and smiled.

_Well played, Wan Shi Tong._

Korra felt the wind get knocked out of her as the fireball crashed into her side, jolting her from the Avatar State. A reflexive burst of air kept her aloft, and her eyes widened in horror as she saw a water crescent rip into someone and nearly cut them in half. The wound was grievous, and the person who had suffered it—a woman, Korra could see now—fell limply to the ground as the water crashed around her.

"Korra!"

The sound of her name broke her subconscious concentration, and she fell as the air dispersed from beneath her. She hadn't yet hit the ground when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, breaking the descent. Korra blinked and saw that Iroh had caught her, and was now bringing them both slowly back down to the ground.

"Are you all right?" he asked her as they touched down, and she nodded mutely.

"I feel…" Korra started to say, before she looked around her and her heart dropped into her stomach.

"What…" she breathed, surveying the carnage and destruction around her with wide, terrified eyes. "Did I… did _I_ do this?"

Iroh looked at her, his eyes equal parts grave and pitying.

"You were in the Avatar State, Korra," he said quietly. "Don't—"

The general was cut off abruptly as Korra screamed and pushed away from him, the backlash from her reaction catching her off-guard and making her tumble to the ground. She scrambled to her feet, breathing heavily in shock. Korra half stumbled, half ran over to Azula's prone body, pulling some nearby water into her hands as she knelt down.

"Hang in there," she said frantically, the words sounding hollow in her own ears. "I can save you. I can save you. I can save you."

Iroh watched Korra repeat the mantra again and again, her voice growing more strained each time. When he couldn't take it any more, he walked over and put a firm, gentle hand on her shoulder.

"She's gone, Korra."

"No!" Korra shouted, shoving his hand away with her shoulder and returning to her vain attempt to save the woman lying beside her. "I can save her! I have to save her! I… I'm…"

The Avatar's words dissolved into an inhuman howl. She collapsed over Azula's corpse, tears burning against her cheeks as she wept at what she had done.

* * *

.

.

**A/N:** Well, I wrote the final scene of this chapter a few days ago, and I still feel like an ass about it. Hopefully it struck the right tone. I personally feel like the Avatar State is a terrifying thing, even when controlled by a fully-realized Avatar. When uncontrolled, it's akin to a walking nuclear bomb. I had some issues with how marginalized its potential dangers were in AtLA, so I tried to apply a more 'realistic' approach to it here.

Thanks again to **Valbrandr** and **Sarina**, and the Epilogue is next!


	5. Epilogue

**Players and Pawns  
**

**Epilogue: **Divine Intervention

* * *

Saiun sat on the ground, his eyes closed in meditation. He was right where he needed to be, his former master was nowhere to be seen, and that was all that mattered.

He felt the rippled disturbance in the air nearby, his gray eyes opening at once as he rose and began to move towards the point of arrival. Saiun was ready and waiting when Azula materialized a few heartbeats later, falling a short distance onto the soft ground. She rose to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. The Airbender took the cloak off of his shoulders and draped it over the princess, cutting the chill she was no doubt experiencing.

"Breathe," Saiun said calmly. "Breathe. You've been through this before. Focus."

Azula's gasps lessened in their intensity, becoming more and more regular until she was breathing normally.

"How am I still alive?"

"You're not," the Airbender answered. "You're back in the Spirit World. I'd credit your strength of will for allowing you to make the journey twice, though… that's almost unprecedented."

Azula got to her feet slowly, clutching the cloak around her as she regarded Saiun with suspicion.

"Who are you?" she asked at last, and the Airbender realized that she had never seen him without a hood covering his face.

"The one who sent you back into the Mortal World to begin with," Saiun answered, and Azula's frown deepened.

"So you're the Face Stealer's thrall, then?"

"I was. Things have changed." He paused, giving his companion a searching look. "You're not planning on running back to Wan Shi Tong, are you?"

Azula gave a bitter laugh.

"After that? Please. He played me, I'll give him that much. But I'm not giving him my trust or loyalty ever again, I don't care what he thinks I owe him."

"Good." Saiun nodded, but then arched a curious eyebrow. "When he spoke to you earlier, what did he say?"

"He told me to let the Avatar live," Azula explained, "and that I should kill Noatak instead. Why?"

"But what was his reasoning?" Saiun pressed, and the princess began to feel a knot forming in her stomach. "Why specifically did he tell you to let her live?"

"He said she deserved a chance to become a better person," the princess answered, before feeling the urge to punch herself in the face. "Why did I ever think that sounded convincing, coming from _him_ of all Spirits?"

"Probably because he used you as an example," the Airbender replied, his voice turning gentler in understanding. "He's known you more than long enough to see what makes you tick. It's what he's good at."

"Perhaps," Azula admitted grudgingly, feeling the overpowering urge to stuff the pompous overgrown owl and mount him on a wall somewhere. "It still doesn't explain why he would move so openly against someone like Koh, though," she continued, relaxing as she let her mind observe the puzzle from all possible angles.

"Wan Shi Tong had to have known Korra would go into the Avatar State fighting someone like Noatak," Saiun said, thinking over the dilemma as well. "And he had to have known it would have been impossible for one Bender to win in a fair fight, no matter how powerful they were."

"Which means he knew exactly how Koh would respond as long as I stayed out of the Avatar's way," Azula picked up, "and he still let it happen. But why would he be confident enough to provoke the Face Stealer into a war? There's no way he could…"

Their eyes went wide at the same time, as the same terrible understanding dawned on each of them.

"Oh, no," Azula breathed, finally realizing the enormity of the scheme they'd been duped into assisting. "Tell me I'm wrong. Please."

"You were right that Wan Shi Tong knew exactly what would happen to Korra," Saiun replied, sounding like he'd just gotten the win completely knocked out of him. "But giving her a second chance was never the point. That was just keeping up appearances."

"And, as I'm sure you're both aware," a cold, slippery voice broke in, freezing Azula and Saiun to the spot, "appearances are everything."

The pair stood perfectly still as Koh moved into view, his large, insectoid legs digging deep into the ground with each scuttling step.

"It really is a pity you betrayed me," the Face Stealer told his former servant. "Your humanity aside, you made quite a valuable asset. Such a shame it took you so long to see what was going on, though. Not like you could have stopped it, of course," Koh added smugly, "but I can only imagine how that must sting."

"How long have you been planning this?" Azula asked, fighting to keep her hatred out of her voice.

"Longer than any span of time your mind would be able to comprehend," the Spirit said with an acidic smile. "And it will be over very soon."

"But why would you wait this long?" Saiun asked. "What good does that do you?"

"Because one must forget, in order to remember," Koh answered, his eyes burning with intensity and power. "Fear can only exist in the absence of power. And power must be attained before it can be stripped away, or the conquest has no meaning.

"The humans feared us, once. They bowed to us in reverence, and we gave them a mere fragment of our power in return. They abused that power, and used it to dominate each other without any exchange of protection or mutual signs of respect, as we had given them. The idea of benevolence in ruling had no meaning for those ingrates.

"And then, before long, they had pushed themselves to the inevitable brink. It was then that the Avatar was created, a pathetic succor for a mortal wound. The failure Wan Shi Tong and I experienced when we argued against the creation of the Avatar did not daunt us. We simply decided to try a far more subtle approach instead."

"You played opposite sides against the middle," Azula spoke up, "and you controlled both sides."

"Precisely, Princess," Koh replied. "And if I may say so myself, I play a fantastic villain. How that owl ever got the Avatars to trust him, though, is beyond me. I suppose being the incarnation of human love makes you a complete rube."

Saiun was about to reply, but the sudden feeling of large, thick roots wrapping around his legs stopped the words in his throat.

"And with that," the Face Stealer continued as the roots entangled both Azula and the Airbender, "I must leave you, as fun as this has been. Wan Shi Tong is holding a war summit with his allies, discussing how best to bring me down. Nearly every incarnation of the Avatar will be in attendance, except for the useless hermits," Koh finished, switching to his baboon face and smiling a fanged grin,

"And I would never miss a chance to collect that many new faces."

Azula and Saiun could only watch in mute dread as the Face Stealer moved off into the distance, a hoard of Spirits of all shapes and sizes falling into rank behind him.

"Beautiful, is it not?" Kaena mused, rising up from the ground as his roots finished immobilizing the two spirits. "The time of human dominion will soon be over, and we will reclaim what is ours by right."

"What's the point of reclaiming a barren world?" Saiun said harshly, ignoring the pain as the thorns of the roots dug into him. "What possible glory is there in ruling over a bunch of corpses?"

"Corpses?" the old Spirit echoed, sounding confused. "No, you misunderstand. We intend to let the humans survive, and give them the privilege of living in servitude to us. Their long years of warfare and bloodshed will come to a peaceful end at last. As it was in the time before humans were given Bending, so it will be again."

"But the Avatar is still alive," Azula insisted as the roots holding her began to sink, dragging her and Saiun slowly underground. "You won't be able to win while she is!"

"The Avatar is broken and ashamed," Kaena answered spitefully as Azula and Saiun sunk up to their knees and kept on going. "She hates herself for what she did to her precious city and its people. As long as she truly believes her own worthlessness, we have nothing to fear from her."

"What about the other Spirits?" Saiun said, his voice growing increasingly urgent as he continued to sink. "They can't all be in agreement with this!"

"All of the ones who matter are," Kaena said. "Appealing to their pride and vanity took care of most of them, and the rest were just old cowards waiting for a fight they knew they couldn't lose."

The Spirit sunk back beneath the ground, but his voice remained as it resounded through the wood.

"_Stop struggling,"_ he said. _"You fought well, but in vain. Listen, and hear the sound of our victory."_

A few heartbeats later, the air around them was split open by the sound of an agonized chorus. Hundreds upon hundreds of voices screamed in painful futility as Koh and Wan Shi Tong's combined army overpowered and crushed the assembled Avatar Spirits. Saiun could feel each of them fighting with every ounce of strength they possessed, and he felt his heart break again and again with each one that fell.

The oldest of the attacking Spirits had not softened with the passing of time, and those about whom the most brutal of stories were told showed full well how they had earned their reputations. The Avatars managed to bring a few of them down, but the meager resistance to the slaughter was over far too quickly to have mattered.

The reconquista had begun.

"Azula!" Saiun called out, trying to block out the spiritual anguish that assaulted his mind. "Now!"

The princess focused every ounce of her strength and called fire to her hands and feet, blasting away the roots that had dragged her halfway underground and sending large chunks of dirt flying up in the process. She flew into the air, turning back around and obliterating the bonds restraining Saiun before Kaena had even reacted to what was happening.

Azula and Saiun flew through the air, pushing as hard as they could with their respective elements before finally being forced to collapse from exhaustion. They tumbled to the ground and laid there, overwhelmed by what had just occurred. The aftershock of the massacre was still pounding against their heads, drowning out thought in a sea of impotent hatred, grief, pain and sorrow.

The silence was broken at the sound of a snapping twig, but neither of the prone Benders could muster up the will to see who the newcomer was.

"I hope they didn't send you to kill me again, Azula," Noatak said, sounding exhausted. "I'm really not in the mood."

Recognizing the voice and finally coming face-to-face with the complete extent to which Koh had manipulated her, Azula burst out in humorless laughter.

"Of course you're still here," she said. "Did Koh pay you a visit, too?"

"No," Noatak answered. "The owl came for me. I told him what he wanted to hear, but I don't think he trusted me."

"Why would you say that?" Saiun asked, as he finally pushed himself to his feet. Noatak pointed to the fresh corpse of a Spirit lying on the ground nearby, a large gorilla with the claws of a bear and huge, bat-like wings.

"Usually those who trust you don't send assassins to murder you," the Bloodbender said evenly. "And don't worry about me," he assured Azula as the princess got to her feet. "I'm not going to kill you. I think we can agree that right now, we have a much bigger problem on our hands."

A heartbeat later, a huge pillar of lightning slammed into the ground where the trio was standing. Only a reflexive blast of air from Saiun pushed them away in time, and the massive scorch mark smoking on the ground stood as testament to how narrowly they'd just avoided a true death.

"I missed," a low, rumbling voice spoke out from above the three Benders, making their ribs rattle in their chests. "I never miss."

A shadow fell over Azula, Noatak and Saiun, and they looked up to see the indescribably huge form of a fully realized, nine-tailed _Kitsune_ hovering above them.

"Not like it matters," came another voice, this one belonging to a Chimera that seemed to be formed from a lion at the feet, an eagle in the middle and a dragon at its head. "Let's finish this. Koh needs us elsewhere."

Saiun conjured a massive tornado to shield himself and his allies, attempting to fly away from their enemies.

A single blast of bright red flame from the chimera ripped the tornado apart, and they fell again.

"Let's see," the _Kitsune_ said with a smile as it surveyed its prey. "Who first? How about the Firebender," he decided, readying another bolt of lightning as Azula rose to her feet. The Chimera realized the mistake, but the lightning had already been formed.

"No, you idiot!"

The lightning raced toward her unerringly, and Azula smiled.

She let the raw energy flow through her, and it was the most powerful sensation she had ever experienced. At least, it was for a moment: until she let it flow back out of her, aimed right at the _Kitsune's_ face.

That was equally as powerful— and far, far more satisfying.

"Next," she said as the nine-tailed fox fell to the ground in a heap, turning to the Chimera with a bloodthirsty gleam in her amber eyes.

But the Spirit stood its ground and laughed, undaunted. A swarm of lesser spirits materialized out of the shadows around the Benders, soundly outnumbering them.

"Kneel!" the Chimera boomed. The trio shared a long glance, and nodded once.

A triple blast of blue flame, water and air gave their answer more loudly than words possibly could.

* * *

The sky over the mountains outside of Republic City's ruins was blood red, spattered with blotches of dark crimson. It was streaked with warped strands of orange, and flowing, fluctuating flocks of winged Spirits cast dark shadows over the earth.

It was within one of these shadows that three people traveled, propelled along by sustained bursts of air under their feet until they were close enough to walk to their final destination. As they went, the one who had taken the lead cast a concerned look over his shoulder at another member in the group.

"You all right, Hanzo?"

"That depends," he replied darkly, his green eyes narrowing at the Airbender. "Will I get to kill something in a few minutes?"

"Not if everything goes according to plan."

"Then no," Hanzo said. "I'm not 'all right'. What the fuck did you think I was going to say, Saiun? That my world is happy and full of sunshine, and I'm totally over the fact that I got royally screwed by the Face Stealer?"

"I did try to warn you," Azula chimed in, her voice tinged with regret. "You just—"

"I didn't listen. I know, I know," Hanzo cut her off. "I was an idiot to trust him. But he swore on the Black River!"

"An oath is only as good as the words used to make it," Saiun said, and the young swordsman laughed humorlessly.

"That's true," Hanzo agreed. "And I guess I did see her again, in the end. I just should have known what he meant by that from day one, instead of slaving away for ten years before figuring it out."

The memory of seeing Kiana's face being worn by Koh like a cheap mask cut through his memory again, and the swordsman's right hand gripped the hilt of his _katana_ tightly.

"Easy, easy," Saiun said, putting a paternal hand on Hanzo's shoulder as he finally stopped walking. The trio stood in front of what appeared to be a plain section of rock in the side of a mountain, and the Airbender's eyes narrowed.

"This is it."

"You sure?" Hanzo asked, while Azula closed her eyes and let her senses flow out around her. A few moments later, she felt it.

"Positive," she said, before glancing up at one of the dark red blotches in the sky. "I'm surprised he hasn't shown up yet."

"He'll show up when he needs to," Saiun replied. "There's nothing he loves more than a dramatic entrance, after all. I'll let you do the honors, Azula," the Airbender finished, jumping back to give the princess a wide berth.

She took in a deep breath and focused, holding her hand out and maintaining her concentration as a small, dense core of blue fire formed in her palm. It grew and flared with power, until it reached the limits of what Azula was able to control. She let it go, slamming the miniature bomb into the rock wall.

The explosion resounded as rock and dust and debris flew away in the wake of the blast, a groan passing through the mountain from the strain. But the passage that Azula's attack had cleared away didn't cave in, and the trio began to make their way down into the darkness.

"Of all the places to hide out, this is what she picks?" Hanzo said, before inhaling too much dust and coughing violently. "What if we find her and she's already gone nuts?"

"We do our job," Azula answered. "All we have to do is get the Avatar back to Republic City alive. Her state of mind won't matter when it comes time for the execution."

"It might matter if Korra decides she likes her head right where it is, though," Hanzo countered. "What if she just brings this mountain down on top of us?"

"Keep asking yourself those questions," Saiun broke in, "and _you're_ going to be the one who goes nuts. Focus."

The passage widened out into a large antechamber a few moments later, and the three found themselves face-to-face with an enormous metal door.

"So," Hanzo spoke up when the silence had started to become unnerving, "who wants to knock?"

There was no time for a reply before a huge gust of wind from the other side of the barrier blew it open, the massive metal slabs slamming into the rock with a deep, thrumming _clang_. Saiun was the first to move, with Azula and Hanzo flanking him.

They only had to walk a few paces before they saw it: a row of four spheres floating high off of the ground. One was water, one was seamless earth, the third was made of fire and the fourth was a perpetually-whirling ball of air.

And behind them, sitting with her body perfectly still and her eyes closed in meditation, was Avatar Korra.

The spheres spun slightly faster each time she took a breath, and slowed back down with each exhalation. Her control was impeccable, and even Azula felt reluctant to interrupt the raw, mesmerizing display of power.

"I know why you're here," Korra said at last, breaking the silence with a calm, measured voice. "And don't worry, Hanzo," she continued, opening her eyes and regarding the swordsman. "I'm just fine. If I'd wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have let you walk three feet into the mountain."

Saiun nodded.

"The years have served you well, Avatar," he said.

Korra rose to her feet, breaking the spheres apart with a simple wave of her hand and smiling sadly at the Airbender.

"I shouldn't have needed them in the first place," she said, walking towards them as the edge of her black cloak trailed on the ground. "I should never have done what I did ten years ago. All of this is my fault."

"You weren't yourself," Hanzo tried to mollify her, but Korra just shook her head.

"No," she agreed, "I was. I _was_ myself when I decided to go into the Avatar State, and that's what counts. Do you know how many graves there are in the Massacre Memorial, Hanzo?"

"Three hundred and twenty-six," Azula said, as the four of them began walking back towards the mountain's entrance.

"And fifty of them were children," Korra added, sadness and regret heavy in her voice. "I murdered over three hundred people in less than half an hour. It took that much for me to even begin to understand what I was doing wrong."

"So you locked yourself inside of a mountain to feel sorry about it, while the rest of humanity got enslaved?" Hanzo asked, arching an eyebrow. "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me."

Korra said nothing for a moment, staring back into her memories as the four of them began to approach the light shining through the end of the tunnel.

"I felt sorry for myself for the first year," she admitted, the calm back in her voice again. "I wondered why I even still deserved to live, after I'd taken the lives of so many innocent people. I tried to talk to the past Avatars for help, but none of them answered me."

"That's because the ones that are still alive are in hiding," Saiun explained. "Any attempt to contact you would have been like throwing up a signal light in the Spirit World."

"I see," Korra said. "But that means they're still around, then?"

"Yes."

Korra smiled brightly for a moment, before sighing and continuing with her story.

"It was four years before I stopped pounding my head against the wall and started to think about all the things I'd done wrong," the Avatar said. "All the things Tenzin had tried to teach me, everything I'd been too stupid and headstrong to understand back when it mattered the most.

"I think I finally understood what he'd been telling me for so long," Korra finished as they stepped out into the light. "And from then until now, I've been practicing that last lesson."

"Which is?" Azula asked, curious.

But before Korra could reply, the air in front of them shimmered and split open along a tear. The Avatar tensed as soon as she sensed what was on the other side, but did not move to attack.

"I see the three of you managed not to bungle the job," Noatak said with a smirk as he exited the rift, accompanied by two Spirits that were twice as large as a man. "I'm impressed."

"Stop prattling, human," one of the Spirits growled, taking a large halberd off of its back and lifting it up with both hands. "It's time for the Avatar to die."

"Wait, what?" Hanzo spoke up, surprised. "Now? Slow down, big guy. What happened to the orders we were given?"

"We don't care about the orders," the other Spirit answered, producing a massive axe from within the folds of its robe. "Not when we don't trust any of you to bring the Avatar back successfully."

Korra sighed, stepping forward to address the Spirits.

"Could I just have one more minute?" she pleaded. "There's something I need to do."

The Spirit holding the axe laughed.

"If you try to attack either of us, your death will be far more painful for it."

The Avatar nodded.

"I know," she said. "I won't."

She turned back and walked over to Azula, looking her former enemy in the eye with nothing but compassion.

"I'm so sorry," Korra apologized, closing her eyes as she leaned her head forward to touch her forehead against Azula's. "I did a terrible thing to you. Please forgive me."

Azula was shocked into silence by the display of humility. But a few heartbeat later her eyes widened, as she realized what was going on.

_Thank you for taking such a big risk for me,_ Korra's voice spoke in her head, even though the Avatar's lips were unmoving. _I don't deserve it._

_If you think Noatak's doing this for you,_ Azula thought back, _you couldn't be more wrong. Revenge is all he has left now._

_Whatever his reason is,_ Korra replied, _I'm going to need all the help I can get, and old grudges won't do us any favors. I won't let you down; I promise._

_I'm counting on it. Once we do this, we can't go back to the Spirit World. If we die here, we're finished._

_That's not going to happen, Azula._

"Get over here, Avatar! The sun will be setting soon at this rate!"

_For what it's worth,_ the princess thought in parting, _I never blamed you for what happened._

Korra smiled.

_That's worth more than I could ever tell you._

The Avatar severed the connection and stepped backwards, giving Azula one last smile and nod before turning back towards the Spirits. She walked to them with peerless grace, kneeling on the ground before them without another word. The Spirit wielding the axe raised it high up into the air and brought it down, aimed squarely at Korra's neck.

A sharp _whoosh_ cut through the air, and the Spirit's arm fell to the ground with a _thud._ Still holding the axe, it had been severed at the shoulder and the wound was oozing with a thick, black liquid.

The wounded Spirit barely had time to roar in pain and rage before Saiun attacked again, sending a second blade of air slashing across its unprotected neck.

"Traitors!" the surviving Spirit bellowed, opening the rift back up behind it with a single slashing motion of its hand.

A bolt of lightning ripped into its back before it had even set foot into the opening, followed by a blast of blue fire. As it staggered forward, the blade of Hanzo's _katana_ pierced through its heart from behind, killing it.

The five survivors were silent as the rift closed again, their secret safe for now. They looked around at one another in unspoken congratulations, but Korra's glance at Noatak was one of confusion.

"Why didn't you…?" she began to ask, trailing off as she put the pieces together and smiled. "They don't have blood in them, do they?"

"No," Noatak admitted with a glare, "they do not."

Korra shrugged again.

"You're still a Waterbender," she said. "That counts for something. Just out of curiosity, who told you where to find me?"

"No one did," Saiun answered. "No one in the Mortal World, that is. Wan Shi Tong always knew where you were hiding, Korra. He just didn't give the order for your execution until now."

"If he and the Face Stealer don't think I'm a threat," the Avatar said, her voice burning with renewed determination, "then that's just fine. It'd serve them right to be surprised for once, don't you think?"

Korra stepped forward confidently, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She reached out as hard as she could to any of the Avatars that still might have been in the Spirit World, trying to make contact.

_Please, I need your help. Now's the time. We have to save them!_

Korra felt a scattered reply reach out to her across the ether, slightly less than one hundred voices that all belonged to her past lives.

But it was enough to give her hope again, after so long in darkness.

_Thank you._

The Avatar opened her eyes, and they pulsed once with blue cosmic energy before fading back to normal. Korra shifted her weight and punched the ground with all of her might, sending a truly enormous pillar of all four elements in one rising high up into the air.

"You wanted to know what Tenzin's lesson was, Azula?" she said, looking back over her shoulder at the surprised princess.

"Patience," came the answer. "Waiting for the right moment to act. If those Spirits felt like they needed to kill me publicly to send a message, that tells me they must be scared of something. Scared of losing control."

Korra turned back to the horizon, smiling as she saw the very top of City Hall's dome gleaming faintly in the distance.

"And they should be."

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**A/N:** And there we have it! I tried to end it on at least something of an optimistic note (shocking, I know), so I hope it didn't come across as seeming forced. I originally had a short exchange in there between Noatak and Korra, but it wound up sounding heavy-handed and belabored so I took it out.

One of the things I tried to do with this series was to have no one be the designated protagonist or antagonist, since it's more interesting to me to have all characters possess positive and negative qualities. So here's hoping that was successful.

Except for Koh and Wan Shi Tong, of course. They're pretty huge dicks.

I've always been wary of the Spirits in the AtLA/Korra universe, mostly because there's no indication in any extant mythology or folk tale anthology I've read that cosmic entities are ever kind souls. For every good thing Zeus does, for example, he does at least three things that're pretty awful. Spirits are fundamentally inhuman creatures, and I definitely see them as having the potential to cause cataclysmic destruction with very little opposition from humanity. Especially when they see humanity as vain, flawed and ultimately broken creatures, as Wan Shi Tong and Koh certainly do.

Now, I know I left a few things ambiguous in there, and I did so purposefully. I was originally going to have a public execution scene be the capstone, but I realized that wouldn't have worked for a few reasons. Unfortunately, however, that left me incapable of giving some minor characters a final appearance in a "where are they now?" sense.

But as a 'thank you' to everyone who's read this far (including the A/N, because no one ever reads these), I figure I might as well explain what I think went down.

Aang is one of the extant Avatar Spirits. He was off trying to make friends with some animal Spirits when the Massacre went down, so he made it out alive. Least I can do for the guy, really. Whether or not he survives the coming War, I leave up to you.

The Lieutenant ran for, and successfully obtained, a seat on the City Council. As did Asami Sato, bringing the number of Benders and Non-Benders closer to equal. In the wake of the Spirits' invasion, the Council went underground and began a resistance movement. This was not a very successful one, but all of the named characters are still alive by the time Korra comes out of hiding.

Lin had her Bending restored by Korra, before Korra decided to go lock herself in a mountain and think about what she'd done. Lin is still a badass, and still doesn't take crap from anyone.

Mira and Sarrak are also part of the resistance, and have a child. They didn't name her after Hanzo, though, because that would have been awkward.

The Spirit reconquista successfully expanded to everywhere else in the Four Nations. No human sits in a position of authority, and their chances of ever regaining that authority are slim at best.

But hey: a chance is still a chance, no matter how slim.

One more time, I just want to say how much I appreciate the fact that you've read this story. I know this is a very niche, atypical kind of plot, and the gift of your reading time is a priceless thing indeed.


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